Comedy Of Romeo And Juliet
by Monstergirl245
Summary: Rebelious trust fund baby Edward Masen and strong willed Bella Swan, two complete opposites, are thrown together during a theatre project and things become... complicated. "Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts" AH/AU
1. Sin from my lips

**A/N Heyy everybody old and new here it is the re edit of comedy of Romeo and Juliet! I've left the title the same but I've changed the summary. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter I'm not going to do shout outs on this chapter form the reviews before but I will start again next chapter!**

**Anyway enjoy!**

**Monstergirl**

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING**

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I hope it's going to make you notice...  
I hope it's going to make you notice...

Someone like me...  
Someone like me... someone like me... somebody...

I'm ready now, I'm ready now  
I'm ready now, I'm ready now  
I'm ready now, I'm ready now  
I'm ready now

Someone like you... somebody  
someone like you... somebody  
Someone like you... somebody

Use somebody – kings of Leon

BPOV

"C'mon Bella..." Rosalie whined "I want to see Emmett before the warning bell rings!"

I sighed and squeaked when my sister, Rosalie, dragged me down the hallway trying to get to her locker to see her _Emmy bear_. I looked over my shoulder at our brother Jasper and mouthed, "Help me! Don't let her take me, nooo!"

Jasper just grinned and shook his head. It was easy to see how amusing he thought it was, he wasn't the one being dragged down the corridor or being forced to watch _Emmy bear_ and _Rosie posy_ act all cutesy and ugh . He then had the nerve to wave at me and walk away, leaving me to gauge my eyes out and die a slow painful death which includes pet names and other unspeakable things.

I growled imperceptibly and said to Rosalie, "Let's go to first period before we're late. You'll just have to see Emmet in Theatre." I pulled Rosalie after me, ignoring my sister's indignant squeals, while I mentally sighed, just narrowly escaping certain death. When we reached the science room I let go of her and turned to face my sister's scowling face. "You know, you should be thanking me," I reminded her smugly. "After all, one more late mark and you'll get detention, which would cut into your time with precious _Emmy bear_." I teased; Rose sat down and proceeded to ignore me. I rolled my eyes and turned to face the front of the room and listen to the fascinating lecture on earth worm larvae, oh the joys of science.

I held back a sigh when lesson finished and Mr Banner said we could leave, I stood up quickly stuffing everything I could get my hands on in my bag. I threw my bag over my shoulder and walked to Rosalie's desk, she was still packing up apparently this was the perfect time to do some filing...

"What are you doing?" I shook my head trying to understand why she chose to do that now.

"Folder broke." She muttered as she continued to put papers as slowly as humanly possibly back on the binder.

"Oh c'mon, grandma swan could do that faster than you and she's got arthritis." I poked her side and she squirmed, she glared at my head, she knew I wasn't intimidated by her, I was over exposed the ice queens famous glare, it just didn't work on me anymore. I kept poking her side repeatedly until she huffed loudly an turned to me, I smiled innocently.

"Would you quit it, I don't see you trying to help!" I grinned at her, as she nearly got to the last piece I looked around and notice we were next to the last people in the room.

"Firstly I think that's more of a one person job and two, let's get to Theatre; you don't want to be late for _Emmy bear_, do you?" I mocked knowing that would move her, she shot me a glare, I just laughed. As expected, Rosalie stuffed the papers as best she could in her folder and grabbed her stuff to put in her bag on the way to the auditorium.

We hurried down the hall Rosalie did well considering the five-inch death traps they had slipped on her feet this morning. It never ceased to amaze me how she could run in those death traps and not even wobble, me, I can just about walk in the damn things without falling flat on my face. They are torture device obviously made by men to makes women's legs look longer and sexier, ah, what women do for vanity...

I walked into the auditorium and was shocked when something flew across three or four sets of seats and smacked me on the side of the head. I turned to the direction the ball had come from, ready to start cursing, but stopped when I saw who threw the ball.

It was Edward Mason.

The guy I have had a "crush" on for the last two years, the guy who most of the female population of Forks High have had a crush on since they were freshmen, essentially, and the most popular guy in school. With his gorgeous, unusual, unruly bronze hair, emerald green eyes and totally yummy arms and abs, yeah I so don't check him out during the shirts verses skins basketball practices during gym, no... He was perfect, well almost. I was knocked out of my idiotic ogling when Edward scowled at me and said:

"Uh, can you throw the ball back _please_?"

Did I mention he he's a total asshole? No? Well now I have. He's a stuck up trust fund baby whose arrogant and egotistical, and destined for Harvard medical school following in his high powered parents footsteps . The thing is he doesn't don the usual preppy look the other trust fund babies wore, although he didn't hang around with the main group of "Richies" either way he still has the stuck up attitude. Today he wore a dark t shirt under a black leather jacket with a grey hood coming out of the back, black skinny jeans and black converse.

"Sure," I muttered, feeling like a fool as I threw the football over to him. He caught it and didn't give me a second glance. No, thank you or sorry, he really is an asshole, but, a very good looking one. Shame really, his looks are the only things he's got going for him, very good looks, but, nevertheless, the attraction is merely skin deep, like most of the others girls here, shamefully. When I say crush I mean it in the most superficial sense of the word meaning; I want to jump his bones.

I walked over to where Emmet, Rose, Alice and Jasper were all sitting second row from the front by the stage. Alice smiled at me sympathetically, while the others remained oblivious to the whole incident. The bell soon rang and Ms. Murphy waltzed in and took her place centre stage, beaming at all of us. She clapped her hands in delight, looking genuinely happy to see us. Ms. Murphy was just a perpetually happy person.

"Hello, everyone!" she sang, "Today we are going to begin Shakespeare's most romantic and tragic play Romeo and Juliet!" she clapped her hands together making the blonde twist on the top of her head bounce among other things. Ms Murphy was one of the youngest teachers here at school, and one of the most popular, especially among the boys. For obvious reasons. She was small at only five foot three in height, but her bubbly personality gave off more than enough presence in a room to make up for her height. She reminded me of an older Alice, though I would never tell her that.

A Chorus of groans came from the boys in the back, one of the guys in the back shouted, "That's such a girly play!" most of the boys in the back grunted their full and heartfelt agreement.

"Girly? This play may be a romance but it's full of swordfights, action and witty dialogue and hey, you guys may be able to learn a few things about girls from Shakespeare" she laughed "Now, we will have quick auditions today. I will simply have you read from the script, so no need to worry about memorizing lines!"

There was a wicked giggle from the back row and Lauren Mallory announced, "Well, it's obvious that I'm going to be Juliet." She bragged, unashamedly, I might add. Lauren Mallory was the most popular girl in school, she's also the biggest bitch, she gets her grades with Daddy's money, and thinks just because her daddy has money she can get away with what she wants, which is mostly true. I'd rather die than see her as Juliet, Romeo and Juliet had always been my favourite Shakespeare play it would be sacrilege if she played that role.

I rolled my eyes, and I saw Jasper grimace in disgust next to me. I turned around and saw Lauren sucking face with Edward in the back row of the auditorium; really it couldn't be classed as kissing it was more like they were eating each other's faces. Cringing, I faced the front of the auditorium again, feeling nauseous. Ms Murphy then proceeded to start the auditions and called people up in pairs. Some people weren't very good, and a few were awful. Fewer were the good ones, which included Angela and Ben who performed the balcony scene I smiled at Angela's blushing face. It was no secret that she liked him.

It continued like this for a while, Alice and jasper went up after Ben and Angela and performed the first part of act 3 scene 5 you could feel the chemistry between them, it made me long for someone the way they have each other. Alice and jasper have been together since they were 13 years old, both Alice and Emmett grew up with me Rosalie and jasper, and so they became family. There had always been something between them but they were both to scare to act on it. That is, until middle school, When Alice, in true Alice fashion ran up to jasper in the hallway and kissed him, they've been together since. Emmett and rose have been together almost as long though belive it or not niether wanted to make the first move, Emmett is Alices brother and her total opposite in nearly everyway, well that is until you look at there eyes the both have the same baby blues, theres no denying the resemblence.

Next was rose and ,much to her distain, Miss Murphy put her with Tyler Crowley, me and Alice where both holding back laughter as Tyler kept trying to get closer to her, her taking steps back, during all this Emmet glared daggers at Tyler who was oblivious to Emmet's anger and Rosalie's obvious disgust. By the time they were finished and Rosalie was making her way over to us we where both having quiet laughing fits. She threw us both dirty looks when she spotted us then huffed a she plonked down onto her seat.

"Err, well" Miss Murphy hesitated not seeming to quite know what to say "That was certainly entertaining! But, that wasn't quite the vibe we were going for from our Romeo and Juliet" she tried to sound encouraging and failed miserably. "Anyway, on to our next pair! We shall have Bella Swan and..." she looked thoughtful as I tensed in my seat praying she didn't put me with some prat or Eric Yorkie. I don't have anything against him but he had been harbouring a mild crush on me for a while and I really wasn't interested, I hated the attention if I'm honest and being paired with him now really wouldn't help matters. "Edward Mason!" Shit! She beamed looking positively elated with herself; I would have rather chanced it with Eric Yorkie.

I sat frozen, my legs not wanting to move the rest of my body to the stage, not that I blame them really my stage fright combined with the rambling mess I become when I try to talk to Edward under normal circumstances, not that I do that much anyway, this would be a disaster. I detested the fact that I babbled when I spoke to him, again not that I do anyway, but, I hate it, I became one of the girls I would always ridicule when I was around him.

"Bella" I snapped my head over to the teacher who was still stood in front of the stage looking bemused. "C'mon it's your turn" I felt warmth rise on my face and neck. I'm cursed, I blush when I'm cold, I blush when I'm hot and I blush when I'm embarrassed, it seems to amuse everyone bar me.

"Yeah Bella!" I turned to find Edward swaggering onto the stage grinning cockily at me. "I can't do this scene without my Juliet now can I?" I probably would have enjoyed being called his Juliet if he didn't sound so cocky. Can anyone tell me why I like him again?

I pushed myself up out of my seat and stood proud and tall, well, as tall as any five foot three heighted girl could. I walked over to the stage praying with myself that I wouldn't fall up or down the steps, fortunately I didn't, I faced him and raised a brow at his cocky smirk.

"Well, since your both on the stage now why don't the two of you have a go at the infamous Capulet ball scene feel free to make of the kiss what you will" she chirped eyeing the two of us as we nodded; seeming pleased with our response she sat down and waited. I felt my breath quicken when I looked into his dazzlingly green eyes. I quickly ducked my head in embarrassment, and I heard him chuckle. But when he began speaking, most all coherent thought left my mind.

_"If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fire is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss,_" Edward read, his voice like soft, seductive, purring, cocky and it annoyed the hell out of me. Why could he not just stand there, not speak and look pretty. Trust me; it would make him ten times more attractive than he is now.

"_Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this; For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss,"_ I murmured softly, willing myself to speak louder and not look like an idiot in front of the class and Edward. I loathed the effect he had on me. We both raised our hands and joined them his large hand dwarfing my smaller one, as they touched softly.

_"Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?_" responded Edward, his own lips curling into a smile, god with all the talk of kissing and mouths my eyes couldn't help but train on his mouth.

_"Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer._" I felt myself smile too. I couldn't help it there was something infectious about the grin he was wearing, since it no longer had the same cocky feel to it, that it had when we first started. I couldn't tell if it was genuine or he was just really good at acting, but, either way it was a lot better than his arrogant smirk.

_"O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; they pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair._" My eyes were drawn to Edward's as he said those lines, and they held a speck of sincerity in them. He moved our raised hands so there where now intertwined at our sides.

_"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake,_" I muttered faintly, my eyes still glued to Edward's. I couldn't move my thoughts from are loosely intertwined hands or the fact we may or may not be kissing. Would he kiss me? If he did what should I do, Should I leave my hands where they are or should I move them round his neck or on his waist? What if he doesn't kiss me? Then what will we do? I froze when he began speaking again and waited.

_"Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged,_" Edward recited smoothly, he pulled his hand from mine and it just brushed brought it up to my cheek, a look of confusion and concentration in his eyes as he lent forward, and just brushed hips lips with mine, just that small touch was enough to send warmth all around my body. His eyes locked with mine as I spoke.

_"Then have my lips the sin that they have took."_ I said my voice, strangely, sounding a lot more confident than before.

_"Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again_," Edward murmured. This time he lifted his other hand up to my face and cupped it softly with both hands, leaning down a little quicker this time to join our lips together. My hands slowly moved up his back, one hand resting on his shoulder the other placed softly on his neck resisting the urge to pull him closer. His lips were soft and persistent on mine, our lips parted under each others, the breath racing out of my body as more pressure was placed in the kiss. We both pulled away, the tittering and whispering that had been going on before had completely stopped. I studied Edwards's face he looked, frustrated, confused and surprised all at once, before once again pulling the cocky facade back over his face as my last words broke through the silence.

_"You kiss by the book,_"

I just stood there part of me confused, another part in happy la la land after just having kissed Edward and the last part realising that I was still stood in front of the entire class and nothing had been said. I pulled my eyes away from Edwards and turned to the front trying to clear my head and failing when I could feel his eyes on the side of my head, which was not only distracting, but, also odd all at the same time.

I looked over at Ms Murphy who slowly started clapping; her brows raised in obvious astonishment, once the silence was broken, quiet whispers filled the room and small quiet claps here and there and a "Go Bella!" which I would have bet a million dollars that came from Emmett. I scanned the crowd seeing many different faces, one of which being Lauren's, her face was a mask of pure outrage and frustration. I bit back a smile, is it really that wrong that I was enjoying the fact I made her look like that...

Maybe, who cares?

"Well done you to!" Ms Murphy was now stood up and watching the two of us intently, I was still stood facing away from Edward, god knows what I would do if I turned around. "I must say I'm impressed with you two, I'm very surprised" you know I don't know whether to take that as a complement or an insult. "Well! Let's get to are next pair, and last as far as I am aware..." As she glanced down at the list of names in her hand, Edward and I walked off the stage and made are way back to our seats. I could feel his eyes on my back the entire time, when I reached my isle I made the worst mistake I could have, I turned.

His eyes bored into mine, making me flush and reminding me of his lips on mine, unconsciously I lifted my hand to touch my lips, but, caught myself before I did, remembering immediately where I was. I turned on my heel breaking my gaze from his, confused.

"Emmett and Lauren!" the teacher's shrill voice broke through all my thoughts and I proceeded to sit back next to Alice who shot me a surprised look, I just shrugged back not really knowing what to say. I knew she was about to say something when Emmett sidetracked her. Thank god, I wasn't ready to be bombarded with questions yet, especially when I didn't know half the answers.

"What! No!" Emmett groaned slumping in his seat like a petulant child, as you can see Emmett really doesn't have a problem with bluntness. "Why her?" Lauren glared at Emmett and pushed herself up out of her seat, overly swaying her hips as she flounced her way to the stage. "She scares me!" Emmett hissed. I laughed at Emmett, but quickly snapped my mouth shut when Lauren turned on me and shot me a dirty look, I tried to stifle my laughter, but when her eye twitched, I couldn't contain myself and dissolved into laughter, Alice and Rose following closely behind me.

"Okay, okay that's enough laughter at Miss Mallory's expense" Ms Murphy chuckled unable to hold back a smile. Lauren huffed and crossed her arms; Ms Murphy sighed as faced Emmett who was still sat in his seat refusing to move."Emmett" she warned, placing her hands on her hips in a don't mess with me pose.

"Fine." He grumbled, reluctantly he got up out of his seat and walked onto the stage dragging his feet. Crossing him arms and imitating Laurens pose he stood on the stage "Can we just get this over and done with" he said looking at Lauren who was currently staring at her nails with a little too much interest. "Please" Lauren tore her gaze away from her nails to glower at Emmett.

"As if I care, I just want to get this over with so I can start learning my lines" she sniffed, and then turned to face Ms Murphy. "What scene are we doing?" Ms Murphy eyed the two warily, Lauren was still stood there her arms crossed and her nose so high up in the air it was a wonder she could see anyone below it. Then there was Emmett stood there looking like her wanted to kick her. He wouldn't though. Maybe I could do it for him, tempting...

"I think we should just give the two of you a simple scene to do how about the death scene, should be easy enough."

It wasn't.

Emmett did pretty well, well, as good as he could have with Laurens dreadful acting, it wasn't that she couldn't act she was just overly dramatic, and at times a bit scary. I mean to start with she wouldn't lie down on the stage, then she kept throwing her arms around narrowly missing Emmett's head quite a few times, though I'm still not convinced that the last few times where accidents. At the end when she mimicked stabbing herself and all she had to do was die, she wouldn't die, no that would be too simple, she kept gasping and sighing. It got to the point where Emmett shouted. "Just die already!"

When she finally did you could almost hear the sighs coming from everyone in the room, but the best laugh was when she stood up she had this smug look on her face like the cat who thought she had the canary.

"Well...Lauren that was, interesting, Emmett good job." A pause "Well that's all of you! Great job everyone! I'll post the final cast list up tomorrow so we can start rehearsing as soon as possible." She sent everyone a warm grin which faltered slightly when she turned to Lauren, who was still grinning; it was starting to get creepy...

Walking out of the auditorium I kept have the feeling I was being stared at, the feeling of everyone eyes on my back made me shiver. I turned out of instinct and had the wind blown out of me when for the hundredth time that day my eyes met with Edwards, they held no sign of hostility, or cockiness, and they were just looking, curious, unsure, of what I didn't know. His eyes pulled away from mine and he half heartedly joined the conversation with his freinds.

"That was _awesome_ Bella!" Emmett grinned at me, I grinned back thinking of his performance with Lauren. Would it me mean of me to tease him? Probably...

"You too Em you too, you and Lauren had awesome chemistry!"Hey I never said I wouldn't do it.

"Ha ha very funny, that girl is seriously creepy" He shuddered. "Speaking of chemistry..." he cast a sideways glance at me, I just shot him a glare warning him not to say a word he held up his hands in surrender. "Hey! I was just saying... Anyway I didn't know you had it in you..." he trailed off, sending me another poignant look.

"Neither did I..."

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**A/N Sooo what did ya think? Hope you all enjoyed it! **

**Ciao**

**Monstergirl xx **


	2. High society rebellion

**A**

**A/N Hello my lovelies! Well let's get on with it here is the next chapter of Comedy of Romeo and Juliet...**

**Right to the shout outs:**

**Twilightlvr4vr: **_**Thanks for reviewing! Hope you love this chapter just as much.**_

**Forevervamp: **_**Thanks for reviewing hope I updated fast enough!**_

**Lynn11802:**_** Thanks for reviewing :D hope you enjoy this chapter.**_

**JessieFayce: **_**Thanks for reviewing! And I'm glad you think so :D hope you enjoy this chapter.**_

**TwilightSagaGEEK: **_**Thanks for reviewing! **_**:D I aim to please! Glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you like this one just as much. **

**Disclaimer:**

**Me: I own twilight hahahahaha (shakes deeds to twilight in a manic fashion in the air, then runs and hides)**

**Edward: give it back.**

**Me: Never! (From hiding place)**

**Edward: this again... must we go through this every time...**

**Me: Yes! (Still from hiding place)**

**Edward: give it back please ... for me?**

**Me: fine (comes out of hiding place) your annoying you know that?**

**Edward: Yes I know**

**Me: but you're still hot**

**Edward: I know... go on say it, say it out loud...**

**Me: do you have to be so theatrical, god! Fine I don't own twilight but I do own this disclaimer *sigh* it'll have to do... for now... DUNDUNDUN...**

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Can't make my own decisions or make any with precision Well, maybe you should tie me up so I don't go where you don't want me You say that I've been changing, that I'm not just simply aging Yeah, how could that be logical? Just keep on cramming ideas down my throat

Wo-o-o-ho-oh

You don't have to believe me But the way I, way I see it Next time you point a finger I might have to bend it back Or break it, break it off Next time you point a finger... I'll point you to the mirror

Playing God - Paramore

EPOV

My mind was reeling as I left the auditorium, every now and again I would glance at bellas head, I couldn't understand what had gone through my head during class. That kiss I have to say was one of the best I'd ever had, not that I'd ever admit that out loud. James kept wittering in my ear about who knows what as I focused on the brown head of hair walking just in front of me. I couldn't understand it, I had kissed her the once, it was barely a kiss; yet, I couldn't help but want more. The second time around I kissed her to try and prove something to myself, prove what I was feeling was bullshit. It only made it worse.

The moment her lips touched mine, heat spread around my body giving me an overwhelming urge to pull and hold her to me, I didn't , my hands cupped her face pulling it slightly up to mine, trying to prolong the kiss for as long as I possibly could. It wasn't right, I wasn't supposed to be attracted to her; I was Edward Masen son of Elizabeth and Edward mason, wealthy socialites, and both successful doctors, my dad a surgeon and my mom a psychiatrist. I was supposed to follow in their footsteps and marry another wealthy socialite's daughter, who is also going to become doctor and follow in my parent's footsteps.

Bella swan, could not, should not and would not fit anywhere in those plans, however shitty they sounded to me, because I didn't get a say, well my parents liked to think I did but, they would just try and humour me when it came to the things _I_ wanted from life. I rebel, of course I do, well I try to at least, Lauren Mallory being my most recent way to annoy my parents. Hell yes, she was rich, yes, she wasn't a complete eye sore, but the fact she wasn't going to become a doctor and didn't have many brain cells to rub together and was extremely affected, made my parents believe she was 'unsuitable'. Mainly this was because she had been going to beauty pageants since she was four years old, which meant from an early age she had perfected the art of turning her face orange and sporting a demented grin, flashing scary looking white teeth.

She also considered baton twirling a sport.

Personally I was glad to be a man, this way I wouldn't have to worry about things like make up, and tampon sizes.

This all bugged my parents to no end, which then in turn gave me endless pleasure watching them both squirm when either, or both of them, has a conversation with her. I never said anything untruthful to Lauren about our relationship I just didn't divulge information she didn't ask for, which would be most of it. She would always ask me "do your parents like me?" Fortunately for me she has the attention span of a gnat and would move on to another subject such as the person who has made the biggest "Fashion faux pa" of the week.

I carried on watching her unable to pull my eyes away so frustrated, I couldn't understand why just one kiss left her under my skin. Then she turned her eyes met mine for a fraction of a second until I was finally able to turn away when James nudged me.

"Edward man, what's got your panties in bunch?" James Hunter was also a "Trust fund baby" however, we both bonded over the mutual hatred of the high society lifestyle. In fact most of my freinds have that in common; it made things marginally easier at the parties we had to attend. Whilst my parents would mingle or dine with the rest of their stuck up freinds, we'd all go off together and form our own party separate from there's. Hey, it was the only way to cope with the boredom. Our group consisted of me and James (Obviously) Garrett, Laurent, Victoria (James's girlfriend), Demetri, Marcus and Felix. Lucky for me all of them bar Victoria where in theatre class so I wouldn't have to endure this torture alone.

"Panties? Really? I've never worn those in my life, I'm not entirely sure about you" he grinned at me. "But, to answer your question, nothing has my "panties" in a twist, I was just thinking." He raised a blond brow.

"Well don't hurt yourself; you looked like you were concentrating too hard, didn't want you to pop a vessel" I shot him a dirty look.

"Thanks" I muttered rolling my eyes.

"Oh before I forget, the party is at Marcus's tonight so we can all crash in his pool house whilst our parents gossip in the main house" his blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Sure, but, man this time, try not to bring Mandy or whoever your parents try to set you up with this time, I mean c'mon' Mandy was worse than Mrs Plaley." I sniggered, Mrs Plaley was one of the older women, who attended the high society functions, the woman has been married more times than I can count, a bit like Henry the eighth accept she didn't behead any of her husbands , well I hope she didn't. She never really did explain what happened to them. All of our freinds are convinced she wants a piece of James, we all find it hilarious, he, however, does not. She's always finding reasons to touch him, hey at least its one source of entertainment at these stupid functions.

"Funny, at least your parents don't disapprove of your girlfriend so much so they shove other girls underneath your nose at every function they attend." That was true, even when my parents did disapprove of a girlfriend they never felt the need to try and set me up with someone else or set me up with anyone for that matter. My love life was once place they didn't meddle in, they did, however, make their disapproval shown.

"Oh James such a lovely boy!" I mocked, mimicking, Mrs Plaley voice. "Such big biceps, do you workout? Oh do you have a girl friend? You must have a girlfriend, Oh molly you must feel this boys arms!" He merely scowled at me as I double over unable to stop laughing. He ran his hands through his blond hair shooting me death glares as we turn in opposite directions to head to next lesson.

"You wait!" he shouted, from down the hall he grinned. "You wait; you won't be laughing for long! It'll be you next!" I shuddered at the thought. "And, hey! I can't help it if I'm irresistible!" I snorted, cocky bastard. I shook my head grinning. "Oh, and say hi to Vic for me." I walked my way slowly to science class, pushing my way through the door silently so as not alert the teacher to my lateness. I slid into a lab table at the back on its own just behind Victoria. I patted my pocket searching for a pencil when I realised I didn't have one I leant forward and poked Victoria in the back of the head.

"Vic, lend me a pencil." I hissed her head shook, her thick red tresses moving side to side.

"Haven't got a pencil." She muttered, her voice quiet as her head switched from looking at her notebook to looking at the board slowly scrawling important notes off the board.

"Well then I need a pen." She sighed and I knew if I could see the front of her head she would be rolling her eyes.

"Fine. Just get it out my bag." She nudged her bag back, so it was within my grasp, I grinned.

"My mother told it was rude to go through a ladies bag." I teased, she huffed.

"Fine, your impossible." she grumbled, grabbed her bag and rifling through the depths of it plucking a few items out before uncovering a pen and passing it back to me. I always wondered what women kept in their bags they always had them clutched to their sides like safety rafts or something, like there holding government secrets in side it. It always amazed me the amount of stuff they can fit in them, my mom always seems to have everything with her in her handbag.

"Thanks Vic." I chuckled as she quickly flipped me off over her shoulder and went back to scribbling down notes from the board. He was one of the few people who knew she actually had a brain hidden beneath all of the hair she had on her head, she didn't act stupid, but people assumed that just because of who she hangs out with and the fact she is a debutant, not by choice I assure you, she is brain dead, which couldn't be further from the truth.

I carried on scribbling down notes aimlessly whilst the teacher droned on for the rest of the lesson about Golgi bodies and endoplasmic reticulum. At lunch I met up with James and the rest of the guys who grilled me on my performance in theatre class, I fobbed them off with excuses trying to change the subject, still not entirely sure myself what was going on in my head in the Bella department. Embarrassingly I did scan the room for her but I didn't find her ,although ,that could be because I was trying to be inconspicuous and trying to move my neck round so I could glance behind me, inadvertently gaining more attention than needed.

"Edward? Man, what's with the contortions? Your neck should not bend that way" Garrett shot me a "what the fuck?" look raising both his eyebrows. I just flipped him off unable to come up with either a witty remark or a plausible excuse as to why I was trying to bend my neck in ways that weren't humanely possible. After the 'incident' I managed to get through the rest of the day relatively unscathed.

By the time last class had started rain had began to pour, I ran to my car as fast as I could and climbed in turned the key in the ignition to let a blast of warm air fill the car I sighed and lent back, no need to put off the inevitable. Putting my foot to the peddle the car peeled out of the lot and drove towards my own private prison. Meandering up a long mud track, tall trees lining the edges, reaching the end my parents three story town house came into view, the white wash bricks with some of the old style paint work and old structure.

From the outside you can just about see the outlines of the long red and gold curtains hanging in the windows on the first floor. Looking from the outside anyone would be baffled as to why I hated it so much even more so when they walk inside but for me it was my own personal hell I hated being rich it meant you had so many social obligations. One pet peeve of mine had to be the furniture in the house, we had so many useless pointless pieces of furniture wouldn't either use nor sit, put your feet upon nor lean upon because they was so many years old and may possible break into lots of little pieces if you dared use it. So as you can see it's my life's dream to be surrounded by useless objects I can never use.

I have pointed it out to my mom many times but she just snapped at me saying it was art I just chimed in and told her chairs were made to be sat on not stared at. She just sighed shook her head and gave me that look that she specifically reserved for me in situations like these. Turning off the engine, I shuffled into the house reluctantly and as quietly as possible, flinching when I stepped on the creakiest old floorboard I could find.

"Edward!" a pause "Edward?" I could hear the sound of my mom shuffling about upstairs "Edward is that you?" My mom had her own clinic and saw a set amount of patients a day so her working day ended a lot early than my dad's did which could end at three in the afternoon or even three in the morning depending on the amount of patients he had to see and whether he was working the night shift.

"No... It's the Easter bunny." I sighed "Who else would it be?" I heard her sigh as the distinctive sound of her clacking heels followed her down the stairs.

"I want none of your lip Edward Anthony" she snapped shooting me "the look". Ooh she pulled out the middle name, she's using the big guns tonight. I just rolled my eyes at my mothers whose dark brown hair was pushed up in a dozen curlers on top her head, which bounced as she walked towards me. Her bright green eyes narrowed as she placed her hands on her hips and studied me "Get ready Edward we need to be at the Romano's at six!" I shook my head, turned around and started towards the kitchen when she called me again. "Be ready Edward I'm warning you!"

"Yes mother" I rolled my eyes, reaching the kitchen I dumped my bag on the black granite work top, going to the huge fridge and digging around for something to eat before we leave. Grabbing the spaghetti and the pasta sauce and began making myself a bowl of pasta leaning against the work surface as the pasta boiled away in the saucepan.

"Edward!" I looked up, a short woman wearing a black maid's outfit with a white pinafore, bustled in shaking her head. "Edward, honestly I still do not understand why you insist on making your meals every day. I would have done that for you!" Grace scolded, Grace has been our maid, and like a second mother to me, for ten years. My mom used to have a hell of a time finding a good maid, then we found Grace, and she stuck, she's like family, but, she can never understand why I choose to make my own meals when that's part of what she's paid for.

"You know how I like to be self sufficient!" I grinned at her that was partly true, it never felt right being waited on hand and foot especially by grace, even if it was what we were paying her for. She smiled softly at me and shook her head; grace had tanned skin and light brown hair pulled up into a ponytail, her warm dark eyes looking up at me. Walking past me to the stove and turning the heat down on the pasta, she patted my shoulder.

"Let me take care of this, you go get ready for the party cariño" I opened my mouth to protest. "No, now go, your mother won't be very happy if you're not ready in time to leave, you know how your mother gets, don't you." I chuckled and nodded, there would be no arguing with her. As I walked towards the door I leant down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks Grace" she nodded at me and smiled returning to work over the stove. As soon as I got to my bedroom I lay down on my bed knowing I wouldn't need long to get ready, but as soon as I let my mind wander it came back to Bella again and to the kiss, she was under my skin and it annoyed the hell out of me, what was so special about her that she got to me like this? Just tell me what cause' I don't have a clue. I've never really spoke to her before today, I mean there's been conversations in passing, and it would be a miracle in a school that small not to at the very least know what her name is.

Shaking these thoughts from my head I jumped in the shower and let the warm water push away any thoughts I had of Bella to the back of my mind. Once I came out I towel dried my hair, forgoing the brushing and pulled on my function suit a navy blue shirt, black slacks and blazer with uncomfortable dress shoes and a black tie to finish the ensemble off. Tugging at my tie and running a hand through my hair, I walked back down to the kitchen and grace gave me my dish of pasta, I sat at the work surface and slowly poked at a few pieces and placed them in my mouth, I finished off my pasta in peace then was accosted by my parents, my dad asking the general how was school questions, then we were out the door.

My parents were both dressed in their best formal attire, my mom in a knee length green dress and my dad in a similar suit to mine. My dad and I looked a lot alike if you discount our eyes, my eyes where all from mom, his hair was the same shade of reddish brown that mine is and we both have the same face shape. My freinds say I'm looking into the face of my future; the furthest into the future I want to look into is what I'm going to have for breakfast tomorrow morning. The future is uncertain, well, actually mines pretty certain but that's what scares me the most, a lot of people think I'm so lucky I have so many options and doors open to me.

The way I see it, there's only one door and I'm being pushed through it.

We pulled up at Marcus's house and rang the large brass doorbell, the door opened to reveal the Romano's maid Sophie. Sophie was average height; weight had white blond hair and warm dark eyes she wasn't much older than me.

"Mr and Mrs. Masen, Edward," she smiled "Come in, Caryn, Piero, Alessandra and Marcus are all in the main dining room just go on through!" she moved out of the door way and held it open until we all passed through. We turned into the dining, and slowly made our way through the different groups of people until we reached the main dining room. Caryn and piero, Marcus's parents, were talking with James parents, whilst Marcus and James stood off to the side leaning against the wall.

"Edward!" I turned to face the direction the little voice had come from and was hit by a small person whose arms wrapped my waist, I grinned and chuckled.

"Hey Lissy." Alessandra was Marcus's little sister, her dark blue eyes smiled up at me, I crouched down to her level, at six foot three I was over two feet taller than her. I had always had a soft spot for Lissy, I wouldn't have minded a little sister of my own, not that I'd ever ask for one, I didn't like to think that my parents still did that sort of thing and if they did I was glad to be kept in the dark. She grinned up at me tugging at the thick bow around her knee length navy dress. "How are you doing?"

"I'm really good." Her grin turned shy and she bit her lip. "I have a boyfriend!" she chirped.

"A boyfriend eh? So, who's the lucky guy?" she pointed to a skittish looking boy with brown hair and wide blue eyes, not a lot taller than her, who was eyeing me nervously from the corner of the room where he stood awkwardly wringing his hands. I felt sorry for the poor sod; Marcus was a bit over protective when it came to Lissy. You could tell it was innocent anyway, I mean c'mon what is the worst a couple of eight year olds could get up too? "What's his name?"

"Daniel." She grinned at him, he smiled softly at her, he looked at little confused as if he didn't know completely what was going on. He kept tugging at his suit and tight looking uncomfortable and nervous.

"Well then, you tell him that one, I don't bite because he looks a little scared right now" She giggled, I grinned. "And two that I will bite if he hurts you and I'm sure the same goes with your brother." She just rolled her eyes at me. "Hey! No one hurts you and gets away with it."

"Edward!" she groaned.

"Anyway, speaking of your brother, I think him and James are waiting for me, I'll see you later. Kay midget?" I said looking over at Marcus who kept throwing me looks every now and again. She stuck her tongue out at me.

"I'm not a midget!"

"Well compared to me you are!" I grinned. "Don't forget to give him my message, you know where to find me if he gives you any trouble." She giggled and shoved my shoulder playfully; I leant forward and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Her nose scrunched up as she wiped at her cheek with the back of her hand, her two cheeks pink.

"Ewww!" I ruffled her hair.

"See ya later Lissy" she grinned at me and gave me a wave as she bounded off back towards Daniel, poor kid, doesn't know what he's getting himself into. I walked over to Marcus and James who were both eyeing me curiously.

"Your sisters got a boyfriend you know" I said casually as I joined them leaning against the wall, I nodded towards the happy couple, Lissy stood there curling her black hair round her little fingers as she grinned. Marcus's eyes flashed, James got a look of his expression and laughed.

"C'mon man!" he laughed patting Marcus on the shoulder, he shrugged him off but it didn't deter James. "Really how much damage can those two do?" Marcus just shot him a glare his blue eyes (identical to his sisters) narrowing, running a hand through his black hair, yet still James ploughed on. "I mean, yeah, whilst she this age you've got nothing to worry about, but, man when she gets older she be fighting guys off with a stick!"

"Yeah and ill help her." He muttered darkly, eyeing Daniel menacingly.

"C'mon man, are you ever going to be cool with her having a boyfriend?" I nudge him and he grunted, still glaring daggers into the back of Daniels head.

"Yeah. When she's sixty." He growled, Daniel turned round and saw Marcus glaring at him, his eyes widened, I don't think I've ever seen a kid so scared in my life.

"Marcus, man, lay off look at him" I gestured towards the boy who at first had looked skittish but he know looked down right terrified, he was as white as a sheet and shaking like a leave, blinking rapidly. "You're going to make him pee his pants in the middle of your dining room." James guffawed with laughter her beside us as, Lissy, finally cottoning on to what was going on, turned away from Daniel and shot Marcus and really evil looking glare, damn, she was scary for an eight year old.

"Away, everyone's waiting for us in the conservatory." James said pushing away from the wall, Marcus still didn't budge. "Look your parent are watching them and their nine there not gonna start doing the dirty on the table, if you walk away for one second are they?" I just shot James a look, as Marcus turned on James.

"What the hell man! You are such a pervert!

"That's really not helping!" I hissed.

"Hey." He said holding both his hands up surrender. "It's true!" as you can see James can bit a bit crass, okay, more than a bit.

"Fine, but if so much as puts a wrong finger on her, then he loses his hands" I rolled my eyes he can be so melodramatic.

"Right, fine, we all will, all the guys will come back and bludgeon him with some candle sticks in the library" I elbowed him as me and James started towards the conservatory, he just stood there looking at me incredulously, he shook his head and caught up with us.

"Fine." He grumbled.

"I was kidding you realise..." I trailed off raising a brow.

"Ruin all my fun" he muttered sarcastically. We pushed our way through crowds of people, until we got to the conservatory where every was lying across the various pieces of furniture placed around the room. I took of my jacket and tie and rolled up my sleeves and un-tucked my shirt undoing the top button of my button down allowing myself to finally breath. For the last time my thoughts drifted back to Bella and what she might be doing right now, but, I just shrugged it off and grabbed a beer off the coffee table in the centre of the room.

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**A/N I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D I was actually surprised I got it out when I did I've been so busy the past week. But I got a rush of inspiration and my fingers ran away with me this wasn't actually the way I planned this chapter to go its better :D which is always good!**

**Just a quick note! From now on I'll send reviewers sneak peeks of the next chapter and reply to reviews through the review reply email system thing it takes up too much space doing it in the actual chapter and makes life a lot easier! **

**Much love to all.**

**Monstergirl**

**:D**

**X**


	3. Juliet and the Capulets

**A/N Heyy guys I'm so sorry for not updating sooner but as with City Of delusion my collab with trulymad I've just been so busy with collage work! I also had to work out some of the logistics for this chapter like Bella, Rosalie and jaspers ages as there all siblings, I've Made it so jasper and rose where born at the star of the year and Bella the end so there in the same school year and still the same age but it's still possible for it to have happened.**

**Oh! I'll be forever grateful to someone who can suggest to alternative birthdates so this will work! **

**Big thanks to all reviews it's like getting little email sized hugs :D**

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing *sob* Damn it how am I supposed to become a billionaire now? Doing it myself seems too much like hard work..._**

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You used to captivate me by your resonating light  
Now, I'm bound by the life you left behind  
Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams  
Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have all of me

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone  
But though you're still with me, I've been alone all along

My Immortal - Evanescence

BPOV

"Peter!" Lauren Mallory screeched as she stared at the cast list. "Peter! Who the hell is Peter?" I bit my lip, holding in laughter as I watched her stare hard at the small sheet of paper on the door of the auditorium. Alice, Emmett and Rosalie had all insisted on coming to look to see what parts we had all got, I personally wanted to put it off for as long as possible, you see best case scenario was I was Juliet, worst case scenario, I was Juliet. So, for me it was a lose, lose situation, i wanted the part, but then i would have also been some what happy being a part of the chorus. I had been dragged, against my will, to look at the list and found Lauren having a hissy fit in the middle of the corridor, even Jessica Stanley had backed away from her.

"Yes Miss Mallory?" Ms Murphy poked her head out of the two double doors to the auditorium, her long string of beads dangling around her neck. She had a small smile on her face, as if she knew exactly what was going on. "Is there a problem?"

"Of course there's a problem!" Lauren hissed. "I'm peter!" Ms Murphy just raised an eye as if to say yes, and... "I don't even know who he is! And, he is a he!" No... Really? Here was me thinking she was stupid. "Last time I checked I was a girl! I should have been Juliet, I was clearly the best" Oh wow, can she get any more modest?

"Well, firstly Miss Mallory there just weren't enough female roles and I was fair with casting, the people I gave the major roles to deserve them the most." She said, she looked sympathetic, but amused at the same time, you know, I think she has just become my favourite teacher. "Bella deserved her role." _Excuse me?_ "As did Edward, and everyone else, I'm afraid the casting is staying as it is unless there is exceptional circumstance, in that case you would need to see me about that. Now, if you're quite done I need to get back to work."

I couldn't quite believe what she said, I deserved the role. What role? My head quickly scanned the casting list, and lo behold there my name was across from Juliet. This wasn't good but it wasnt necessarily bad either, I was excited, and nervous and a whole host of things my head couldn't quite get around right at that moment. What did she mean about Edward then, he wasn't? No. He couldn't be, my eyes flew to the white sheet of paper stuck to the wall.

Romeo: Edward Masen

Juliet: Bella Swan

Lord Montague: Ben Cheney

Lady Montague: Angela Weber

Benvolio: Jasper Swan

Mercutio: James Hunter

Abram: Mike Newton

Balthazar: Laurent LeBlanc

Lord Capulet: Eric Yorkie

Lady Capulet: Rosalie Swan

Tybalt: Emmett Cullen

Count Paris: Jacob Black

Nurse: Alice Cullen

Peter: Lauren Mallory

Prince Escales: Felix Armstrong

Friar Laurence: Marcus Romano

Friar John: Christian Stone

Apothecary: Tyler Crowley

Gregory and Sampson: Demetri Berkley and Garrett

Chorus: Jessica Stanley

This couldn't be happening he couldn't be Romeo, I couldn't be Juliet, this wasn't right, I was a wall flower, and I blended in. I wasn't a sheep, I was me and darn proud of it, but, unfortunately most of the time 'me' was a shy wall flower desperate to break out her shell and gain some much needed confidence and self esteem.

"You and Edward will make a fine Romeo and Juliet; you certainly have the chemistry..." She smiled softly I could feel my whole body getting warm and I knew my cheeks where flushing. She gave a smile to everyone else faltering when her eyes met Laurens, but it swiftly picked back up again. "I'll see you all in lesson tomorrow, got to get back to my paper work, honestly that is the one thing I despise about being a teacher, all the miles and miles of paperwork." She muttered as she ducked back into the auditorium "Oh!" Ms Murphy popped her head back round the door quickly. "Don't forget to start rehearsing your lines, you have a lot to learn, good luck to you both" she smiled at me and smiled at someone over my shoulder and then disappeared back behind the door, my whole body stiffened.

I turned, and there he was, stood behind me, his face assessing mine, he stood casually leant against the wall just outside the small group of people gathered round the cast list. I couldn't tell what he was thinking and it was killing me, his face was heavily guarded and gave nothing away. It frustrated me that I couldn't tell whether he was happy about this, sad about this or not bothered about this, anything at all, I would had killed to know anything he was thinking right now. I took in a shaky breath and shook my head; I guess I'll never know, I'll just have to make the most of this. Keeping my head low I walked passed him feeling his eyes following me the whole time.

"Bella!" I groaned softly, I needed to get out of here, I was starting to feel suffocated with everyone's eyes on me; I didn't need or want the attention. "Bella! Wait up!" I stopped and stood still the loud clacking of heels stopped as Alice hopped to a stop beside me, I plastered on a smile not trusting myself to put on a genuine one.

"Hey Alice" she frowned, she knew me too well.

"What's up bells?" she placed her hand on my arm softly. "You're Juliet! You should be so excited, I have to admit even I'm jealous, although I have to say Romeo is better suited to you than to me." She nudged me with her hip and smiled at me my lip twitched, but I still felt confused, I didn't know what to feel about all of this. Part of me want to to break into a happy dance in the middle of the corridor and start bouncing off the walls, the other part was worried I wouldn't be able to get through this without making a fool of myself or breaking down.

"Alice..." I sighed "Alice what happened yesterday was, well I... I don't know what happened yesterday but I'm almost positive it was nothing, plus he's going out with Lauren, as much as she annoys me I'm not going to try and come up with some extravagant scheme to break them up and make him mine, then he'll run into my open arms with no hard feelings and delude myself into thinking that will give us a happily ever after" I rolled my eyes. "I mean there are so many examples in books and movies that show that never goes well, that doesn't mean you can scheme for me either..." I looked at her, her eyebrows shot up.

"Bella what makes you think..." I cut her off and shot her a look.

"Alice, I know you well enough, you know I love you but I don't need you to meddle in this" she pouted. "Please Alice"

"Fine." She grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Congrats on your part too!" At this she perked up and grinned at me.

"I know, I'm really excited, it's not the lead but it will have to do!" she teased, she turned back towards the others who were stood chatting back by the theatre. "Oh! Before I forget, me and Jazz are going out after school and I think Rose is going with Emmett back to our place, so your own this afternoon, Kay?"

"Yeah, sure, have fun!" I waggled my eyebrows and she just laughed.

"I'm gonna go back, you coming." I shook my head.

"Gotta get to class; I'll see you at lunch though right?"

"You bet your ass." She laughed. "See ya later" she waved to me as she walked back towards the others, I watched as she joined in their conversation with ease and Jasper slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side protectively and kissed her head. My eyes moved to Emmett and Rosalie they weren't as obvious with their affections but if you watch them you could see they always had a body part touching. Right now, there hands were by their sides and Emmett was playing with her fingers as she leaned into his side, I smiled as I watch the two couples interact with one another. I sighed and let my legs reluctantly carry me to next class, _algebra, _lucky, _lucky_ me...

Classes passed quickly, it reached lunch and I sat down in my usual seat with the rest of the guys although the whole time I could feel Edward's eyes on me. I kept looking up and seeing him watching me then he would turn away and so would I, then the cycle would start again. The cafeteria felt ten times smaller; getting smaller still the longer I sat there. As soon as lunch was over, I rushed out of the room, finally being able to breathe. The rest of the day past without incident , but I still kept thinking about theatre I couldn't get it out of my head, I was lost I didn't know what to do I couldn't give up the part that would be cowardly, but I didn't know if doing this play with Edward would be any less unpleasant.

Driving home in the old rust bucket, my red truck, I kept thinking about what I was going to do tomorrow, I didn't want to star alongside someone who didn't appear to like me very much, not only would it be awkward, but Romeo and Juliet itself brought back memories of my mom from years ago, good memory's, but it always made me miss her when I thought about it. As soon as I got home I rushed upstairs and pulled out a small leather backed copy of Romeo and Juliet. It had been my mom's she had then given it to me when I was younger and I fell in love with the play just as she had. I opened the front cover and read for the thousandth time what my mom had written on a little slip of paper just inside the front cover:

_Bella,_

_Today is your 9th birthday honey and I wanted to give this to you just as_

_my mom gave it to me when I was your age and I wanted to pass_

_this down to you so you can fall in love with Romeo and Juliet as much as I have._

_Happy birthday baby._

_All my love,_

_Mom_

As I flicked through the book, reading my favourite parts, I remembered the times when my mother had read this to me when I was a little girl. She would always choose her favourite parts of the play and read them to me. At the time I was too young to have her read the whole play to me, but, she always had me mesmerized when she read. I smiled, and as I read I could hear my mother voice reading to me again as I lay tucked up in bed, in awe of my her as she read to me.

My room hadn't changed much since she'd gone; it had the same worn white carpet and pale green walls even the bed was still the same, except she had changed the sheets from her old ones which were purple with a black horse on it. I had loved those bed covers when my mom had brought them home, I refused to let either of my parents take them off my bed even when the covers got dirty and ratty. I had always had a love for horses, I had started having riding lessons when I was 8 years old but quit when even after six months worth of lessons when I was still being led around in a circle.

Horse are free, there wild, being the youngest of three had always felt the most restrained, like mom and dad had wanted to keep me as there little girl forever, even though I am only a few months younger. Rose and Jasper where born first, Rose being twenty minutes older than Jasper, which she never lets him forget. Then, a couple of months later I was conceived, I wasn't "planned", in other words I was an accident, not that my parents had ever said that and they never would.

It hit us all hard when mom left she was our rock, mom and I we had always been best friends, always best friends first and mother and daughter second, we all were, Rose, mom and me. Best freinds. I sighed and stared at the ceiling, I missed her terribly sometimes, I squeezed my eyes shut pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind. As quickly as those thoughts left my mind a pair of green eyes flashed across my subconscious and all my thoughts went back to Edward and the play.

Could I do this?

Did Edward want to do this?

Did I want to do this?

Do I have a choice?

If I did do this, would I be able to this without choking or worse end up staring at the audience blankly when I supposed to be saying something? What if I started to say the wrong lines from the wrong play, and just get it totally and utterly wrong? There were so many questions swimming in my head, it was mind boggling, it made my room seem claustrophobic, I knew I just needed to get out for a while, to just breathe.

"Hello!" a gruff voice called to me, breaking through my thoughts.

"Hey dad!" I called as I grabbed my shoes and walked down the stairs jumping the first step. Dad turned to me as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"You the only one home?" I nodded.

"Yeah, Rose is at Emmett's and Jasper and Alice went out to straight after school." I stated pulling on my shoes.

"So if all the couples are coupling, what are you doing?" he asked as he hung up his gun belt after pulling his jacket off. Charlie is the chief of police of forks, not that much crime happened here, I think the worst crime that has happened this year was when a couple of idiots attempted to rob the corner store and failed miserably.

"I'm going to go and see mom." He smiled at me softly, his dark eyes sad.

"Are you okay bells?"

"Yeah, I just need to... Think some things over." I breathed, I knew he knew were I was headed, I always went to visit mom when I needed to think, it cleared my head.

"Okay." He nodded, and though I could see he was curious, even if he didn't want to know into the mind of a teenage girl, he didn't pry further. "Don't come back too late okay?"

"Sure." I nodded, I headed for the door, stopped, then turned, I walked back to my dad and wrapped my arms around his waist in a hug, and awkwardly he brought his arms around me a hugged back. "Love you dad."

"Love you to bells." He murmured surprised, letting go I once again headed to the door and made my way to the old rust bucket, climbing in and reversing out of the drive. I followed the road to the familiar destination I had been so many times before and parked just outside the gate. Climbing out of the car and through the gate I carried on walking and stopped at a black polished marble head stone, I rested my hand on it and rubbed softly at the smooth surface.

"Hey mom." I whispered.

_Renee swan_

_1965 – 2010_

_Beloved daughter, wife and mother_

_You will never be forgotten in our hearts._

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**A/N Sooo what did you guys think? Kinda cliffy, once again sneak peeks for reviewers! I know it's not Beta'd but I just wanted to get it up ill send it to my Beta tomorrow well today and just replace this with the beta'd version, I hope this wasn't too riddled with mistakes! sorry about all the removing then putting back on of the chapter FF Doc manger was freaking out on me grrrr.**

**: ) Love you all!**

**Monstergirl!**


	4. Lady Capulet

**A/N Heyy guys! I am so sorry this took longer than I thought, but this was difficult to write. This chapter is quite heavy- I know the last two chapters haven't been especially long but as I said this is heavy and gives a real insight to Bella's past. **

**Love you all. Shout outs to all reviewers and all my Favouriters and Alerters and just readers in general. Every time I get an email with a favourite or a review it's like getting a little hug XD.**

**Also a huge thank you and round of applause to my beta TrulyMadHatter, my best friend who helps me make this presentable and battle the mighty comma and semi colon, thank you! Lovage to all!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing... *Sigh* Not even the song below which I implore you to listen to. It's absolutely beautiful. Xxx**

**On with the show!**

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Nothing's gonna harm you, Not while I'm around  
Nothing's gonna harm you, No sir, not while I'm around  
Demons are prowling everywhere, Nowadays  
I'll send 'em howling I don't care, I got ways

Being close and being clever Ain't like being true I don't need to  
I would never hide a thing from you, Like some

No one's gonna hurt you No one's gonna dare  
Others can desert you not to worry, whistle I'll be there  
Demons'll charm you with a smile For a while  
But in time nothin' can harm you  
Not while I'm around

Not While I'm Around – Barbra Streisand

BPOV

I was only eight years old when she died. Rosalie and Jasper were both only nine. We were so young, too young to have our mothers taken away. We all understood what was going on, we had understood long before it happened. Both of them had tried to keep it quiet, tried to protect us, but we didn't want to be protected, we just wanted our mom, we wanted the truth, we knew something was coming. Oh, we knew, we just didn't want to admit it to ourselves.

They eventually sat us down and told us she had IDC, breast cancer; they explained how they had been caught the cancer at stage two when it was still potentially curable, she had had a lumpectomy. They thought they had removed it all but some of it was still there and it grew back- with a vengeance. It then rapidly progressed into stage three. It wasn't until this point that she showed any obvious physical signs of being sick. She went in for radiation treatment-mom and dad told us she was just going on a business trip with work for a week and then she would be back. She had been going out a lot around the time and we all knew something was wrong. When she came back from her treatment she looked so tired and weak, drawn and pale.

According to dad it was smooth sailing for a while, she was responding to the treatment and it seemed to have been working, but after a month or so things went rapidly downhill. She was no longer responding to radiation and she was sliding into stage four. Chemotherapy was the next option, so she knew she couldn't hide it from us any more- she would be "gone" for long periods of time and she would be incredibly sick, not just from the cancer itself, but the many side effects of the chemotherapy. That was the moment she decided to tell us, her and dad called us into the living room, and sat us down. It was one of those moments that stays in your mind, crystal clear, even if you want it to fade, even if you try to get rid of it, it stays lodged in your head, making you hurt every time you think of it.

Xxx

"_Rosie! Bells! Jazz!" Our dad called to us up the stairs, me and Rosie had been playing dress up in our room with our best dresses and we had done each other's hair into plaits. Ali had been with us for a while and we both did her hair. It was too short for plaits so we put it in two tiny pigtails on the top of her head. Ali had had to leave 'cause Aunty Cathy had wanted Alice home for her dinner. We giggled as we trampled down stairs. Jazz rolled his eyes at us and scoffed;_

"_Girls." We stuck our tongues at him and broke into giggles again. We abruptly stopped when we saw dads face. We knew something bad was happening._

"_Will you all come in to the living room? We need to talk to you all, your mom and me." His face was sad, solemn, but determined. He walked to the large, old brown leather couch that was nearly as old I was, and told us all to take a seat giving us a tight lipped smile. I looked over at Rose and Jazz. They just shrugged at me, and sat down. I looked back at dad and softly sat down on the edge of the couch, taking a small breath, I broke the thick tension in the air._

"_What's going on, dad?" _

"_Well-" His breathing is shaky; sitting down next to mom on the couch by the window he took her hand and gave it a small squeeze, looking into her eyes then looking back at us, he cleared his throat. "Your mom and me, we, well we... we've got something to tell you."_

"_Are you having a baby?" Rose asked. We were all trying to cling on one last shred of hope that this conversation could be something good, something happy, anything other than what it really was. She smiled, his eyes turning watery. He shook his head, paused then shook his head again, wiping his hand down his face. I'd never seen him look so tired. Mom squeezed his hand, and gave us all a smile._

"_No. No honey, no." A pause. "I wish it was something like that." She murmured, shifting in her seat, discomfort flashing across her features. "I've got to go away for a while, to-" She took a breath, her voice breaking. "To the hospital, me and your dad we haven't been completely truthful… I haven't been going on business trips; I've been going to the hospital. I'm very sick and I need to stay in hospital for a while." She stopped and a few tears escaped her eyes. Dad leant over and whispered in her ear, she nodded twice and dad looked back at the three of us._

"_Your mom has cancer." I could feel my chest start to hurt, mom couldn't be sick she just couldn't, cancer was bad I knew that much, what if she died? No. She could die, she couldn't leave me, she couldn't leave us, just, no. It wasn't going to happen. "The cancer is at stage three at the moment, but she getting worse, she stopped responding to her treatment, so she needs to go to hospital for some chemotherapy." _

"_Is mom gonna die?" jasper whispered, blinking more than normal his eyes turning glassy, mom and dad turned to look at each other as if deliberating something, she gave dad a watery smile and kissed his cheek, and simply nodded telling him everything he needed to know._

"_If she responds to chemo then... No." I could feel a but coming, and I didn't want it to; I wanted to rewind this all and just go back to when everything was okay. "If she doesn't then it's a very real possibility, but remember" he sniffed tears threatening to spill over his lids. "Your mom is strong, so strong and she won't leave us without a fight!" Mum was leaning up against dads side gentle closing her eyes and taking a breath, he lent his head on top of hers tucking her safe under his chin, she fit their perfectly. They were like two pieces of a puzzle, so perfect for the other you could tell how much the prospect of being apart ripped them to pieces._

_I had slid closer to Rosalie and her closer to jasper, I gripped her arm in my hand and she held on to jaspers and he had us both wrapped in his as best he could, keeping us save, holding us together, we had to be strong, she would make it. The chemo would work. She would live. She'd stay with us._

_She had too._

"_When do you have to go?" I spoke up for the first time, my voice broken, my whole body feeling tired, it was aching._

"_In two days." Mom sighed, looking up from dad's chest not seeming to want to move from there. I nodded, sitting up straight, sniffing and wiping the tears from my face determination shining in my eyes, I would be strong, for me, for rose, for jazz, for dad and most of all to mom, she needed me, she needed us._

"_Okay." I nodded "we'll come visit you every day, you'll get better you will I promise you." I fixed her with a determined gaze, she smiled at me and chuckled, but it didn't sound right, it sounded broken, hurting._

"_I think it's time for you to go to bed it's getting late, and you've all got school in the morning, I love you all." We nodded, Mom and dad walk up the stairs together hand, he whole body lent into his side making her look so small, so fragile. Me, Rosie and Jazz all got up silently and made slowly up the stairs, on the way my hand found Roses we both held on trying to keep each other together. Are hands stayed connected until we reached our room, then we both reluctantly let go, my body was on auto pilot I pulled on an oversized t-shirt for bed and climbed under she covers. I kept trying to tell myself that everything was going to be okay. That was defiantly going to survive but I couldn't get rid of the niggling feeling in the back of my mind the something was going to go wrong, the voice contradicted every positive thought I had eating away at my brain._

_I tossed and turned unable to fall asleep or find a comfortable position to sleep in, it was pitch black and I could hear movement in the room the rustling of bed sheets then the soft padding of small feet. I felt the covers at the back of me lift up and someone slide in behind me, I turned over slowly and came face to face with rose, her eyes were sad and vulnerable. This was a side of rose only me a Jazz got to see, rose didn't like to be weak, she loathed it, she felt she had to be strong, but even so it doesn't make it easy._

_I smiled at her and snuggled closer finding her hand under the cover to intertwine with mine._

"_Love you Rosie." I could sense her smile, her feeling more at ease._

"_Love you to Bells." My body relaxed next to her and I finally fell into a deep dreamless sleep._

_When I woke up we were still holding hands._

_Xxx_

From that night on for a long while that was how we slept either I would crawl into her bed or she would crawl into mine, we kept each other whole, we were each other's rocks, we kept each other going, we all did, me jasper and rose, if we hadn't had each other I don't know what would have happened.

A Month or so past and my mom had lost all her hair she was so pale, so weak, so frail, she wasn't the same women any more, she was still my mom of course but she had lost that spark, that energy. The chemo was taking it all out of her, she had barely been out of the hospital in those past couple of months, my heart hurt every time I saw her there, she wasn't supposed to be in there it wasn't where she belonged, she belonged with us at home, at her home. Not there, not then. I didn't believe it was her time then, I still don't, even now.

Dropping to my knees in front of the grave I pulled up some weeds from around the headstone and took the old flowers from the pot and put the new ones in I had picked up on the way here.

It happen exactly three months to the day that mom passed away, the doctors had been hinting for a while, but Charlie wouldn't take it. He loved mom so much, he just couldn't let her go. Eventually the doctor told us to take mom home, to make her comfortable, that it was the best way. Charlie flipped out, he was so angry. He just couldn't take it, he almost hit one of the doctors, he had his fist in the air, then he stopped. His fist dropped as it all hit home, and he fell to the ground sobbing. He sobbed _so_ hard.

It was the first time I had ever seen Charlie cry.

It had to have been one of the single most heartbreaking sights I had _ever_ seen.

After that we brought mom home, we stayed by her bedside virtually all day not wanting to waste a minute of what precious little time we had with her.

Then a week later, she left us.

Xxx

"_C'mere, babies." Mom lay on her bed her head being supported by a few pillows. Her hair once long, thick and beautiful had now disappeared replaced by a single blue bandana covering her head she looked so tired and fragile . Her lips were grey; she looked so sick, even so you could feel the love rolling off her and the determination_. _Charlie sat on her one side never taking his eyes off her. She opened her free arm; Charlie was holding her other hand stroking it slowly, blinking hard every so often. All three of us crowded on the bed next to her, she laughed softly at all of us, we were almost hanging of the edge of the bed. We didn't care._

"_I'm gonna miss my babies so much." She look at us all and snorted "Although, you're not babies anymore, your all growing up, turning in to mine young men and women , I'm gonna miss your tenth birthdays! Your first double figures!" she sighed wistfully, sadly, she then shook her head. "No, no I'm not gonna miss it, cause you know what? I'm always going to be with you, even if you can't see me." She squeezed us all lightly. _

"_It won't be the same." I whispered, looking her in the eyes._

"_I know honey, but I want you to always remember that I will always be with you, always" she brought her hand to her heart. "In here" then to her head. "And in here, you can never truly lose someone if you keep their memory alive, and that is what you need to do"_

"_Don't leave us, please." Rose whispered, her voice was pleaded and as she looked up her eyes were filled with tears, that where just spilling over rolling slowly, despairingly down her cheeks._

"_I wish it were that simple sweetheart." She pulled rose to her and hugged her tightly._

"_Me too." Jazz mumbled, holding back tears a few traitors escaping, he furiously swiped them away. "I hate that there's nothing we can do, anyway you can't leave yet there so much your gonna miss!"_

"_Yeah!" rose piped up in her arms. "You're gonna miss middle school and high school graduation, collage..." Rose's lips twitched. "And Bella attempting to drive, you know you don't want to miss that." She laughed through her thick tears; I nudged her gently, smiling very softly, a small sob breaking through my chest as I spoke._

"_Hey... There right though, you can't leave yet, you just... can't." I looked at her she had tears rolling down her cheeks. "It's not fair, why you? Why now? It's not fair" I said through gritted teeth, I licked the tears from my mouth, tasting the salt. She pulled all three of us into her arms as best she could. Dad still stayed un responsive still just, sitting there rhythmically stroking her hand. She began to hum softly to us all, it was a song we all knew well, it was our song._

"_Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around, nothings gonna harm you, no sir, not while I'm around..." her voice was hoarse she coughed softly, but still carried on. " __Demons are prowling everywhere, nowadays. I'll send 'em howling I don't care, I got ways." She chuckled, I sobbed into her chest I couldn't stand it anymore, I just let go, tears and emotions flowing freely, my chest aching so hard._

"_But you're not going to be around, you're not, you're not!" I sobbed, my head buried in her chest I could her rose and jazz crying but all I was paying attention to was the soft sound of her heart beat. "Don't leave me please" I cried. _

"_Remember that song, our song, whenever you miss me, I'll always be with you, if someone dares hurt any of my baby's there gonna have one hell of an angry ghost on their hands." She laughed softly kissing the top of my head. I tried to laugh, but I couldn't, I just sobbed harder, the sobs rising from my throat with no way of stopping them. "Come now, come now, I just want to say one more thing and then I want you all to get some sleep. It's very late and your dad and I, we need to talk some things over." I pulled away from her reluctantly and placed my arm tightly round Rose who was shaking, silent tears falling from her eyes._

"_Don't hesitate, when it comes to living life don't hesitate, just live, you never know what might happen." She nodded. The whole room was quiet apart from the muffled sobs falling from everyone's lips. "To bed now" She murmured, kissing us all on the head before we left. "I love you all _so_ much." We walked from the room slowly my legs carrying me out and into my room; this time I didn't hesitate- straight away I crawled into bed next to Rose._

_Neither of us went to sleep the whole night, we just lay there crying silently, each sob we heard in our parent's room cutting through us like a knife. _

_Mom died that night, and she died in Charlie's arms. He was heartbroken, when we went in the next morning we found him sobbing hard into her hair. She was curled in his arms, and she looked so peaceful, like in a deep restful sleep, but we knew straight away she wasn't. Charlie was so broken without her. _

_There would never be another woman like Renée, for him or for us._

_The hospital came a few hours later and took her away. I could still hear her voice in my head;_

"_Don't hesitate" _

Xxx

I had always admired the relationship my parents had. They were so in love- they completed each other and I wanted that, I wanted it so badly, but a cynical part of myself said it only happened in fairytales and I would be stupid to consider it. The other half was willing me to carry on dreaming, that someday, someone would come along and they would make me whole, they would be my other half.

I sighed; my body slumped against the headstone, my cheeks wet and my eyes red rimmed. I rubbed my face in my hands- my mind was clearing and I knew what I needed to do. My mom's voice rang in my head.

"_Don't hesitate"_

I wouldn't. Why shouldn't I do this part, even if I would have never done this unless it was in class or the fact that I would have never admitted it but I loved that fact I could play this part. Or that I could have a leading part in a play. It was just so... surreal, but amazing at the same time and I wasn't going to let Edward dictate what I was going to do. I wanted to become the confident Bella I am in my head the one with witty comebacks to peoples remarks and takes shit off no one, but I'm not, I always try to kid myself into thinking I am but I'm not. Not anymore. I'm going to show people who I really am and be proud of it. Be proud of me.

Pushing myself off the ground and brushing off my knees, I give my mom one last smile and brush a kiss on the smooth stone. I let my hand brush across the smooth surface as I make my way to the old rust bucket, feeling relieved and slightly weightless as I walk away.

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**A/N did you like? I know it was very heavy but I really hope you liked it! Tell me what you think and as always sneak peeks for reviewers. : D **

**Oh who here likes Heroes *Raises hand* I do ive really got into and am waiting with baited breath to buy season 2 eep i especially love milo ventimiliga, having said that i really like him in gilmore girls which is even more amazing which you should go watch right this very second if you havent already its practically a sin, really go now, now! okay my lovlies...**

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**Until next time,**

Love to all.

**Monstergirl xxx :)**


	5. Consummation and arguments

**A/N Hey! I know this had taken me a while but Christmas break is soon so ill be off for just over two weeks so updates should come quicker, Hopefully but I do have some inspiration for the next chapter so all is good! also this ones longer than the last two so i hope you enjoy!**

**PLEASE READ: So as most of you know I put a AN up before this chapter asking if anyone would beta for me as my current beta is too busy to beta my chapters to I need a new one, also if you do become my beta and I send it to my other beta ill still send it to you so you get the chapter before everyone else, which I doubt she hasn't beta'd a full chapter for me in a while. I love her but she's busy. So basically you would be my first beta anyway. **

**I need someone who's good with punctuation but also someone who is good with the creative stuff too id like a beta who can criticize me so if you're interested please PM me or review on this chapter.**

**Shout outs to everyone! I Love you all alerters, favoriters and reviewers, i was so touched my some of the reviews last chapter, there like little hugs**

**On with the show! **

**Disclaimer: When I take over the world I will own twilight Oo and harry potter, but until then I own nothing, but I will ! you wait HAHAHA I will also make a search and email engine all my own, Google shall be happy no more about me having no new mail haha.**

**Well anyway here's there chapter enjoy!**

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It's a new dawn  
It's a new day  
It's a new life  
For me  
And I'm feeling good

Dragonflies out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know  
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean  
Sleep in peace when the day is done  
And this old world is a new world  
And a bold world  
For me

Stars when you shine you know how I feel  
Scent of the pine you know how I feel  
Oh freedom is mine  
And I know how I feel

Muse – Feeling good

BPOV

I walked into the auditorium head held high and full of determination I would do this, and for once I wouldn't let any one stop me from doing what I wanted to do. No matter how scary it seems right at this moment. I smiled as I strode to the row where, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper sat deep in conversation. I took a seat on the end of the row, face forward and my knee bouncing rapidly as I watch Ms Murphy walking on stage and stop in the centre with a flare and grinned at us.

"Right!" she clapped her hands and rubbed them together. "We are all going to start by reading through the play from the start to the end, just to familiarize ourselves with it. So, I need you all up here on stage and to grab some chairs and make a big circle. We all shuffled up to the stage and grabbed chairs, pulling them into an uneven circle. She passed round a set of scripts telling us not to lose them, as they would be our only ones for the next couple of months. The threat just went over every ones heads, it wasn't unusual for teachers to make requests like this, but they nearly always went back on their word anyway.

Jessica started by reading the prologue, it had always been one of my favourite parts of the play it had an air to it when read right. Jessica stumbled over the old English words as she read, pausing every now and again to take a breath, squint at the page and stutter round the next word. It took about two minutes more than needed for her to finish reading it. Then we got off to a flying start we read through smoothly with minor hiccups here and there when someone couldn't pronounce a word. We even managed to skirt passed the ball scene with minor incident.

I had my head held up, my gaze down and at my script, gripping the pages tightly knowing if I looked up I wouldn't be able to look away. I wouldn't be able to look at him without remembering that kiss, the way his lips felt on mine, the way they moved...

"Bella!" Alice hissed at me nudging my side cocking her head down, I looked to my lap, my hands had squeezed the script had almost crushing it entirely. I smoothed it out putting on my lap then placed my hands together, twisting them trying to keep them busy; I looked up and listened again. We had just got to the scene were Romeo and Mercutio where talking, just before the balcony scene.

"_He jests at scars that never make a wound_." My eyes stayed down but I listened intently to the monologue flowing out of Edward's mouth. He sounded sincere in his words, almost frustrated with himself, he made an interesting Romeo, he was a good actor I'd give him that. "_Oh, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek_!"

"_Aye me..._" I sighed looking up quickly, then back down careful not to catch his eyes , he continued to talk I looked up his eyes looking into mine then I would look down then I would look up and he would catch my eye. The exchange carried on this way for a while as we both read our lines.

"_Wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?_" I looked up meeting his eyes square on but this time not looking away.

"_What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?_" I breathed; my heart was beating hard in my chest.

"_Th'exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine._" He spoke as if he was trying out the words on his tongue like the words he was speaking were foreign on his lips. My heart fluttered stupidly in my chest. It's not real. Its acting, I'm Juliet, he's Romeo, were going to die at the end of the play anyway. This still didn't discourage me from want to shout yes at the top of my lungs and throw myself across the room into his arms. I restrained myself, but he didn't make it easy. I'm too young to get married anyway.

It's one of the things that always baffled me about Romeo and Juliet, I understand they love each other, but why get married a couple of days after they've first met. I mean runaway together, exchange promise rings, something like that, but was marriage really necessary? I don't think so, but I suppose it was a different period of time, I'm not against marriage, not really I just think if you're in love when you're young cant it wait for a few years? If you're so in love then it should last right?

"_I gave thee mine before thou didst request it! And yet I would it were to give again._" I breathed the words softly, my eyes still locked with his. He cocked his head to the side his expression curious.

"_Wouldst thou withdraw it? For what purpose love?_"

"_But to be frank and give it thee again. And yet I wish but for the thing I have, my bounty as boundless as the sea my love as deep, the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite. I hear some noise within. Dear love adieu!_" The words felt strange falling from my lips I twisted my fingers in my lap. I looked around the circle to see all eyes trained on me and Lauren shooting me daggers from across the circle.

I watched her as she grabbed Edwards hand in hers and with the other run her hand up his arm possessively smiling at me maliciously. I just looked at her resisting the urge to snort, would she like to piss on him while she's at it? Coming to the end of the balcony scene we worked our way through the play. Then we came to the scene were peter comes in , yeah there was only two lines but just watching Lauren spit them out was highly amusing.

"Peter!" Alice spluttered turning towards Lauren, she bit her lip as Lauren sat with her arms cross glaring daggers at her as she brought a hand up to her mouth rubbing her mouth to try and hold in laughter. "Peter?" Alice asked again raising an eyebrow.

"Anon." Lauren muttered, she uncrossed her arms and squeezed her fists at her sides, I coughed round a laugh. Her face grew an interesting shade of red as she squeezed her hands at her sides, hard. Catching my lip in my teeth I bit down on it hard to stop the round of laughter threatening to pill out. She sat with a sour look on her face throughout the entire scene, speaking through gritted teeth.

"I saw no man use you a pleasure; if I had, my weapon should quickly have been out, I warrant you: I dare draw as soon as another man, if I see occasion in a good quarrel, and the law on my side." She ground out, her jaw was clench, I just couldn't help it I burst out laughing, Alice following shortly behind.

"Alright, alright c'mon girls don't be cruel! That's enough." the teacher scolded, her tone was angry but her eyes and the smile fighting its way to the surface as she scratched the side of her mouth, told a different story. "Let's take a five minute break then we can restart, I think I would like to skip a head slightly too when Paris and Juliet first speak okay? I need to talk to Edward and Bella at the end of the lesson about the previous scene, off you go be back in your seats in five" She turned and left the room to go to the lighting booth in the back.

Alice and rose turned towards me in their seats;

"You're doing great Bella." Alice cocked her head and looked pensive then grinned "I have to say, I think I prefer Lauren as a guy, she more valiant, she said she'd protect me, by getting her weapon out." Alice wiggled her eyebrows at me, I snorted, that girl could turn anything into innuendo, I can't talk being around Alice so much has made me just as bad; Rosalie nudged Alice in the side.

"Alice!" She laughed, Alice merely grinned shamelessly.

"Well! She did." The three of us fell into easy conversation for the rest of the break. Towards the end I looked over the room and my eyes landed on Edward, intentionally or otherwise, Lauren was draped across Edwards lap her hands round his neck buried in the hair at the base. Her lips where firmly planted on his, the kiss getting pretty heated and getting worryingly close to dry humping. I turned away in disgust. Thankfully the teacher walked back in at that moment and cleared her throat as she walked passed.

"In your seats everyone! And Miss Mallory, Mr Mason please refrains from getting intimate on the schools furniture, now take your seats again and we shall begin." I sniggered at the two as they walked up looking extremely ruffled. Lauren brought her hands up to her head and smoothed her hair, then her clothes Edward followed suit, but forgot the bright red lipstick that was smeared across his mouth. He took a seat and against my better judgement I pointed it out.

I looked at Edward "Edward?" Edward looked over to me puzzled his expression caught between scowling and intrigued.

"What?" He spoke harshly, I just couldn't take him seriously with his joker look all he needed was green hair dye and he was good to go.

I motioned to my mouth, his eyes followed my hand his eyebrows shooting up "That's not your colour" Then it dawned on him, Edwards hand flew to his mouth as he attempted wiped away the lipstick that Lauren had managed to get all around his mouth, whilst everyone else sniggered. Even after wiping his lip still had a shiny red tint to them. He glared back at me and I couldn't help but laugh, because I could of sworn I saw the tips of his ears go pink.

"Okay, okay settle down, settle down, Tyler I'd like you to start at the top of act four scene one." Tyler nodded took a deep breath and began, he wasn't too bad I at acting when he wasn't trying to seduce Rosalie against her will. Then I looked over at Jacob who had just started talking, his jet black hair russet skin and warm dark eyes stood out among our classmates, he wasn't the only person of the reservation in la push to go forks high, but he had a calm, warm demeanour that gave him a presence in a room, he was generally quiet. His acting surprised me though, he was good.

My dad knew his, Billy black, from way back, but surprisingly me and Jacob never really got close, we met a few times but not so many times that much came out of it. Our dads never really forced a friendship between the two of us and when we grew up we just had our own life and freinds and never really went when our parents visited the other.

He's good looking I have to admit, around six foot four with a grey t shirt fitting snugly across his chest, a really nice smile and great hands there aren't many guys with nice hands. I don't like hands particularly but I like a guy with nice hands, its weird, I'm weird, but, it's just one of those things. I have to say Edward has nice hands also, nice long slender fingers, god it makes me wonder what he could do with them, don't judge me, I'm a sexually deprived, hormonal teenager. Plus when your freinds with Alice, you can pretty much change anything into innuendo, it's hard not to have dirty thoughts now and again.

"Happily met, my lady and my wife!" Jacob spoke, breaking out of my naughty hand related thoughts. He smiled at me as I spoke.

"That may be, sir, when I may be a wife." I said raising a brow, he grinned.

"That 'may be' must be, love, on Thursday next." He smiled and winked, I smiled a shook my head, is it just me or is he flirtier now than he was as a kid. The lines went on like that more banter than exchange between a heartbroken women and a man exited for a so called wedding it was fun I had to admit. I caught Edwards eye once or twice during the scene he looked frustrated and a bit puzzled, he looked fruzzled.

"Okay class I think we done enough for today don't you?" she announced after finishing the scene, there were many grunts, groans, sighs and hell yes's in agreement. "Also I'd like to remind Edward and Bella to just stay behind for five minutes now; I promise I won't keep you long." She looked over at me then to Edward and nodded as everyone began to back away, the buzz of chatter filling the room.

Walking off the stage with Alice, a hand shot out and grabbed my shoulder, long nails digging into the flesh. I hissed and swivelled round to see Lauren levelling me with a cool stare. "I want you to remember one thing swan, alright?" I raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Edward is _my_ boyfriend, don't step one foot out of line swan otherwise." She paused looking at me, trying to gather some kind of dramatic effect. "You won't know what hit you." I rolled my eyes as she turned away.

"Yes _sir_..." I muttered, Lauren froze, I could hear her take in a big breath, her body tensed, he turned to look at me her gaze cold and calculating, I tensed waiting for the verbal attack, and maybe physical one, that was bound to occur. It never did, the side of her lip just twitched up in a secretive smirk. I watch warily as she turned around and walked out of the auditorium. My eyebrows darted up into my hairline, well that was defiantly unexpected. Alice turned to me;

"What was that all about?"

"I have no idea. Doesn't matter, I'm hungry now though, you go get a table with the others whilst I talk to Miss Murphy alright?" She nodded. "I wonder what she wants." I muttered as an afterthought. I walked to where Edward was stood on the stage, next to Ms Murphy on the stage; she greeted us both with a smile.

"I would just like to speak to you regarding the scene were Romeo and Juliet..." she trailed off looking for the right word. "Consummate there love." My head snapped up, what was she getting at? "I would like to place this into the play I don't want to completely gloss over it, but I want it to be tasteful, no words need to be spoken that's why I think this will be a great way to see some real chemistry between the two of you." My eyes widened, was she asking us to have pretend sex on stage? Edward spluttered next to me obviously caught off guard as much as I was. "Don't worry!" she added hastily, seeing both our expressions. "It's not as bad as it sounds a lot of professional acting troops do this sort of thing when performing these sort of scenes, you won't need to remove all of your clothing." All... All so what? I need to dry hump Edward, on a stage, half dressed?

"I'll go through it with you at some point, so we can sort it out the two of you won't go far intimacy wise ill start it from when Romeo climbs in her window and we will end it when the two of you are lying down, alright?" She nodded, I still couldn't figure out what to say. "the two of you have such wonderful chemistry I think this is exactly what the two of you need to broaden your acting horizons, plus your both 17 so it should all be okay, oh I will have to get you to, once we have gone over it in rehearsal, to do a trial run in front of your class mates."

"Excuse me?" I asked incredulously, I am not going to dry hump Edward, on a stage, half dressed, in front of the entire class, there's no way.

"It'll be okay, I'll make sure both of you are comfortable if you are really extremely uncomfortable we will try a different approach." She nodded, I just sat there and stared at he, I think she needs to go to see a doctor, then if some nice men with a nice big net come and get her then I would be surprised. "Okay I'll see you next lesson" We both turned around silently to leave; she called out to us just before we climbed off the stage.

"Oh! before I forget, you two will have extra rehearsals, either during lunch or after school, I may even request some of your periods for study hall but that may only be if entirely necessary. I'll have to work with you two more than the others. I'll work on the love scene with you then" I immediately opened my mouth to protest, but Edward beat me to the punch.

"Do I have to? I have things to do, you know," sighed Edward petulantly running a hand through his hair tugging at it in frustration.

I looked at him in disbelief as Ms. Murphy replied icily, "You do if you want to pass. Both of you are dismissed."

Edward immediately raced out of the auditorium, I sighed and walked out, feeling dejected, I didn't want to spend time after school rehearsing either, but was spending time with me that bad? He made it seem like the end of the world. If he was going to be an asshole the rehearsals wouldn't be much fun for me either. I started to make my way to the canteen when I remembered I needed to grab my psychology folder out of my locker. So I sighed turned around and walked in the opposite direction as my stomach growled in protest.

"I know..."I sighed patting my stomach as I pulled to a stop in front of my locker, I turned the dial ad pulled my stuff out as fast as I could, making half of the contents spill out onto the floor. "Shit!" I grabbed the papers of the floor trying to file them awkwardly away in their respective folders shoving my other texts books back in and closing it. I moved to walk, or run, to the canteen when chatter stopped me. I pooped my head around the corner to look down the next hall and there at the end stood Lauren and Edward.

They looked like they were having a heated conversation; I tried to strain my ears to hear but I could only here muffled, muddled words and sentences. I watch as Lauren put her hand on his shoulder and spoke to him her face soft conspiratorial, she was smiling her free hand out as if asking something. Edward shook his head vehemently and pulled his shoulder from her grasp, she carried on talking her she seemed to be getting frustrated, pleading, the her posture straightened and a smile slid across her face, it wasn't a comforting or kind smile, it was a nasty, mischievous smile.

He turned away from her to walk away, but then she said something and he stopped dead in tracks and turned his head slightly. I couldn't see his face, his whole body was tense his fists where tensed at his side, she had him, whatever she wanted from him she had him, judging by the creepy Cheshire cat smile on her face she knew it. She raised a brow in question even though I could tell she knew there wasn't one, it was like watching a black widow reel in her prey.

Edward turned all the way around, the anger and frustration evident on his face; I couldn't help but wonder what she said to him? What could she have said to get to him that much? He walked towards her, and backed her into the lockers, the smile never left her face, she was loving this, she was baiting him. She spoke, delicately stroking her hand down his cheek, his face becoming blank, there body's flush.

Then he nodded. It was a quick movement, I almost missed it, but at this movement Laurens smile grew impossibly wider, she place her hand flat and pecked his lips, his face stoic as she did. She slipped from his arms and practically skipped down the corridor, towards me, fuck! I quickly flattened myself against a break in the lockers, squeezing my eyes shut, and listened as her heels clacked against the floor becoming more distant I peeked my head out slowly opening one eye then the other.

Cautiously I walked back to look down the hallway and Edward was still there his forehead in his hands lent against the lockers, he turned so his back was against the lockers and he his hands through his hair, he growled low in his chest, and quickly he pushed himself away from the lockers, swerved and smashed his fist into the locker in front of him with a loud groan.

"Fuck!" He cursed loudly, the sound echoing all the way down the corridor, he muttered something under his breath and began to walk away towards the front entrance. For some reason unknown to me I followed him, he strode down the corner, tugging at his hair as he went, I stayed close behind him and tried to keep my footsteps quiet. He stopped and ever so slightly cocked his head listening out, my breathing hitched.

_Don't turn around... Don't turn around... _

I had nowhere to duck into this time, if he turned I would defiantly be caught, I held my breath as I watch him shake his head and take in a deep breath and let it out. Then he carried on walking, I loudly let out the breath I had been holding, I froze, hoping he hadn't heard, he didn't turn he just kept on walk seemingly absorbed in his thoughts. We reached the front entrance he walked out pushing both doors letting them fly backwards. I stepped quickly out of the way and stopping peeking my head round the door and watch him walk towards a sleek black motorcycle.

It had a classic yet modern style it had no logos on it or anything, it was highly sexy, Edward grabbed the black helmet off the back zipped up his leather jacket half way and climbed on. He kicked away the kick stand and revved the bike the purr of the bike going straight threw me, what can I say? I really like motorbikes; I've had many an argument with Charlie about getting me one he says there far too dangerous, for me and for anyone else on the road, which I highly resent. Jasper agrees with him, Rose is a bit more understanding about it although she shares my love of motorbikes.

He then raised his head once I couldn't see his eyes threw the tint of the helmet but I could feel his eyes on me. He'd caught me. I couldn't move it felt like an eternity until he looked down and tore out of the parking lot the engine purring as he sped away. I rested my back against the wall breathing heavily, my chest rising and falling with each breath. What was all that about?

My stomach growled loudly reminding me of what I had set out to do in the first place; I turned and made my way to the cafeteria. I made my way over to Alice, Rose, Jasper and Emmett and sending me questioning looks.

"What took you so long?" Rose asked, I took a deep breathy and told them about the conversation I had just had with ms Murphy, which they all found hilarious. Then I went on to explain about what I saw go on between Edward and Lauren, He Looked so angry with her, whatever she had said had hit a sore spot and she knew it.

"It was just the weirdest thing, he looked so angry when he left." I sighed, frowning. "I just wish I could have known what she said to him."

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**A/N Sooo what do you think? **

**Also Just another reminder that I still need a Beta so if anyone's interested then please PM me or reviews on this chapter. Also all reviews get sneak peeks as always! **

**ugh my god im watching this film its sick but fascinating at the same time I just cant seem to stop watching it, its kind of like a saw crossed with final destiation crossed with CSI crossed with other things its like this killer is systematically killing these people on an island one by one its really creepy its called mindhunter if you don't mind blood and gore and like a good horror flick, with a bit of mystery i would reccomend it, although be warned it is bloody. Awesome though. i know i must sound really morbid right now ... :D i love a good mystery.**

**Anyway my lovelies, till next time.**

**Much love as always **

**Monstergirl**

**Xxx**


	6. Fire and Doubts

**Heyy guys : D Happy holidays! I got this chapter out faster than the last one, Yay! I've already started on the next one so it should be done faster than this one! Anyway love you all!**

**Shout out to my awesome Beta angel, let's all give her a round of applause shall we!**

**Shout out to all favoriters, alerters and reviews your all awesome! **

**Disclaimer: **

_**Me: Twilight will be mine *Laughs manically and makes Mr. Burns like hand gesture***_

_**Edward: No it really won't**_

_**Me: *Narrows eyes* you're just a ray of sunshine aren't you! Why don't you go and do something useful like stand in a meadow and sparkle whilst I plot my evil plan.**_

_**Edward: No and how is that useful?**_

_**Me: it's not, but, I do like watching you sparkle shirtless in the sun yum**_

_**Edward: you are a strange person.**_

_**Me: Oh I know :D**_

**On with the show!**

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When I'm on fire  
When you're near me  
I'm on fire  
When you speak  
And I'm on fire  
Burning at these mysteries  
These mysteries...

I'm standing on the edge of me  
I'm standing on the edge

On Fire – Switchfoot

BPOV

I walked into the empty auditorium and took a seat towards the front; I let out a huge breath and pushed my hair out my eyes, my knees bounced furiously. I tapped my fingers against my knee and every so often changed to twist the stud in my ear. Edward and I were starting our extra rehearsals today, starting with the sex scene. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. The Auditorium doors creaked open and I saw a head peek through the door, I watched Edward walk down the steps and stop at the row I was sat at. He looked to the opposite side then looked over to me. He walked down the aisle toward me. My breathing hitched.

_Would he mention yesterday lunch? Did he even see? I could have been wrong. _

I tried to rationalize in my head tried to simplify the situation, I knew he had seen me, there really was no question. I was deluding myself if I thought he hadn't seen, though how I know for sure, I didn't really know. He sat down one seat away from me, he ran a hand through his hair and turned to me, and smiled awkwardly.

"Hi." He looked quite hesitant his eyes sweeping my face, he looked afraid; like he thought I was going to jump across the seats and bite him or something.

"Hi." I returned the smile, not quite sure what to say. "I like your motorbike." I blurted without thinking. His head turned to me his eyebrows shot up.

"You like motorbikes?" He asked I could hear the surprised in his voice.

"Yeah, I want one of my own but; Charlie thinks I'll put myself and everyone around me at risk if I get on one." I laughed shaking my head at the memory. "I still want to get one before I leave for college, I'll need to get a new licence for one though." I stopped after that smiling awkwardly, feeling I may have shared a little too much, but none the less he smirked softly chuckling.

"Well I've heard you're a danger already just on your feet." He said smiling; I laughed softly pushing my hair back over my face. His whole boy had relaxed all the tension that he had held in his posture had melted away

"Well what can I say?" I murmured smiling; we both fell into a slightly awkward silence, before either of us could say anything more Ms Murphy burst through the doors with an exuberant smile on her face.

"Hello you two!" she smiled at both of us and waved her hand to the stage. "Can the two of you go centre stage? I've had some help and I've managed to rustle up a mattress so we can do this properly, I'll get some pillows and what not for the night of the show." She nodded as the two of us walked up to the stage, I swallowed. "I know this must be a bit daunting but was not going to do anything to drastic were just going to set the scene for the sex, then we'll close the curtains. Just give the audience the idea of the consummation."

I let out a breath; it still didn't sound a whole lot better.

"Alright, now I want you to imagine it's your last night together and Romeo you've just climbed up to her balcony, I'm going to let you feel your way through this scene, I'll give you a shout if I think you should do something or if I think it's getting too heavy." Taking a seat she placed her bag on the seat next to her, I flushed bright red at her words, what did she think we were going to do?

Edward walked towards me breathing deeply his chest rising and falling in rhythm with mine, looking straight in my eyes; his hands delicately cup my face as if I'm a precious jewel that will shatter into a million pieces if he holds me harder. Softly, he brought his lips to mine and all thought of Ms Murphy, stage fright and well, everything, rushed from my mind. My whole body set alight with fire spreading all around, down between my legs ending at the tips of my toes.

My breathing hitched as he ran his hands down from my face to my hips, his thumbs rubbing soft circles on the bare skin, in the gap between my jeans and t shirt. His lips pressed a little harder into mine, both of our lips parting slightly under each other. His sweet breath washed over me. I fought the urge to moan under his touch, I moved one wandering hand up to knot in his thick, soft locks, the other drifted down brushing his arm, his chest, his stomach, then without thinking my hand slightly brushed the inside of his thigh.

I froze, but he didn't, he groaned, it was a deep, gravelly sound right from deep in his chest, his grip tightened on my waist, his fingers grazing the inside of my jeans, brushing the edge of my panties. I sighed, he took the opportunity to softly push his tongue into my mouth to meet mine, I moaned and my hips pushed forward slightly of their own accord, Edward growled low in his chest, a deep rumbling that went straight through me and down between my legs.

"You're doing well! Remember we want to keep this tasteful." I heard the teachers voice chirp in the back of my mind, though frankly I could care less. Struggling for breath I pulled back with a gasp, my breath coming out fast and shallow. He moved his lips to my neck, I leant my head back revelling in the feelings shooting all around my body at his soft touch. What was going on with me? My body was reacting to him in such a strong way when my mind wanted to pull away and run in the opposite direction, but I couldn't. My body was being pulled so hard toward him it was so hard to stop.

"Great, now Edward I want you to lower her down now and Bella at this point I want you to remove Edwards shirt, then we can wrap up the scene." Edward moved his mouth back on mine and began to walk slowly backwards pulling my with him, my feet complied with no hesitation. He moved his one hand up and grazes the side of my chest, my whole body burning with desire. He turned us around and began slowly lowering me down. He slowly started to lie himself down with me his body pressed right up against mine. My hands slid under his shirt, tracing the contours of his chest, I slowly, shakily pushed up his shirt revealing a drool worthy set of abs, they weren't over defined, but just defined enough that you could see the outlines of a well toned chest, I ran my nails down his chest, he groaned. Then I felt it.

_He_ was hard.

To say he had a little problem would be an understatement. His hips gently grinded into me, we both moaned. "Edward." I breathed; it was like having a cold bucket of water over us, we were walking the fine line between acting and the real thing this wasn't us kissing, consummating our 'love', we were Romeo and Juliet, not Edward and Bella, we had almost forgot that, well I obviously had and judging by what was pressed into my leg, he had too.

His lips brushed mines stiffly once, twice then he pushed off me delicately, and hissed when he grazed himself against my leg. I had to separate myself from this, from all of it, the play, Edward, everything. Otherwise when this is all over I'll get hurt. We both slowly stood up slowly, carefully holding each other's gaze. His face was conflicted, frustrated, almost angry, at what? I have no idea, there was also surprise written across his features. He discreetly and quickly put his hand down to readjust himself, before turning round to look at Ms Murphy.

"Well done, if you can do it like that on the actual day, you'll be absolutely fine." She smiled softly to herself and murmured something to herself and murmured something too soft for either of us to hear. He picked up his discarded shirt from the floor, the muscles in his back flexing as he leant down to grab it; I swallowed my mouth dry, then licked my lips to moisten them. My eyes stayed on him as he pulled the shirt over his head completely exposing his chest and my eyes wander to a soft trail of light hair leading down into his boxers that just peaked over the top of his jeans. "If there's anything you need."

_Apart from a dry pair of panties?_

"Or any questions you have, don't hesitate to ask, alright you can both go, but remember rehearsal after school tomorrow!" she called after us both as we both rushed off the stage wasting no time in getting out of there as fast I could, feeling claustrophobic under the teacher's enquiring gaze and Edwards heated stare. I pushed through the double doors a gust of cool air blowing round my face and body, I stood taking in a few deep breaths trying to velar the foggy haze in my brain.

I headed quickly towards the front entrance out towards the parking lot and rushed through the pouring rain to my truck; I sat in the driver's seat and gripped the steering wheel aimlessly flexing my fingers. I felt the need to punch something, why did he have to make me feel this way? My whole body was still tingling; I could still feel him pressed against me, every touch of his fingers, the way he moved...

No, no I can't think that way, I can't become attached, I mustn't. I won't.

I'll just imagine him in drag, that should do the trick; he would never be able to pull off a dress. I laughed to myself, imagining Edward in a black sparkly dress and long haired wig, and he could borrow come of Laurens make up she wears enough for two anyway. I shook my head, I must have looked crazy to anyone walking past, I nodded resolutely, I'll be fine, I could do this. I finally put the key in the ignition after sitting there for god knows how long, I started to pull away then I heard the familiar purr of a motorcycle. I watched as Edwards motorcycle peeled out of the parking lot, zipping past at an alarming speed.

I pulled out of the parking lot and made the short journey home, Charlie's cruiser wasn't in the driveway so I knew he wasn't home. I had always hated that thing, as chief of police Charlie always drove around in the police cruiser, mostly because we don't have another car, because we can't afford one, also because I think Charlie gets a sick amusement from watching speeding cars slow to a crawl as he drives past, I have to admit I enjoy that part too.

Rose has her own car which she saved up for, for her seventeenth birthday; she had her license at 16 but couldn't afford a car of her own. I have my truck which Charlie brought for me, Rose and Jasper to share but when Rose bought her own car since Jasper was more interested in saving for a new guitar he had been wanting for a while, so now Jasper just hitched a ride from Rose or myself, we all drive together to save gas.

Rose's car was parked weirdly on the driveway, which most likely meant Jasper had parked it. Like you would assume, I'm not the worst driver of the family that would be Jasper, it's a wonder the boy passed his test. Whilst learning to drive he ran over a selection of mailboxes and into bins, he narrowly missed the neighbour's cat and worst was when he ran into the back of a pedestrian's legs whilst reversing out the drive. When Jasper first got his licence we were all shocked, Rose and I called everyone we knew, and told them to get off the roads.

You think I'm joking.

I walked through the door still eyeing the car, shaking my head, I walked into the living room to find, Rose, Emmett, Jasper and Alice all sat in various positions on the couches, watching a movie. I walked in and took a seat up against the biggest couch under Alice feet which were tucked tightly under her leaning against Jasper, whilst Emmet and Rosalie where squashed together on the smaller couch in a similar position.

"Hey guys." I muttered the TV screen pulling me in, everyone mumbled their hello's, I wasn't entirely sure what we were watching but it looked interesting enough, I perked up a bit when two of the characters starting having a sword fight. I never understood why sword fighting went out of fashion; I mean really who doesn't want to carry a sword around in a really cool belt to pull out at any sign of danger. It's a shame they didn't do fencing or sword fighting in gym, I'd be much more willing to participate if they did.

About another hour past of sword fighting, princess Buttercup and kisses, then the credits rolled, I stretched and yawned, curling my toes and fingers, arching my back.

"How did your _extra rehearsal _go?" Alice asked waggling her eyebrows suggestively. I just scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"My _extra rehearsal_? Not much." My mouth went dry at the thought of our _extra rehearsal _and how I'd like to do a little more _rehearsing_.

"Of course we believe you" Alice rolled her eyes then smirked. "You looking a little flushed, you feeling okay?" She snickered.

"I'm fine." I threw her a glare; she just laughed and rolled her eyes.

"_Eddie_ getting you a little hot under the collar?" Emmett laughed joining in the relentless teasing, I bristled.

"No!" I checked myself, realising I just made myself seem all the more flustered. Damn, "I mean no, of course not." I fidgeted, under everyone's amused stares; they all looked at me as if to say _yeah right, _"He's not!"

"Spare me." Rose drawled, she turned to Emmett, "Boys you two go upstairs and play, me, Ali and Bella need some girl time." She pecked Emmett on the lips before he pushed of the couch reluctantly, pouting like a petulant four year old.

"But Rosie we wanna know too!" He whined, Jasper snorted behind him.

"I certainly don't." Jasper scoffed. "She's my sister."

"Boys. Go." Rose rolled her eyes

"Fine" Emmett grumbled, jasper elbowed him in the ribs.

"Man, c'mon I can kick your ass again on the Xbox." Jasper drawled cockily, Emmett glared at him and elbowed him back.

"You did not beat me, plus I wasn't even on my best game." Emmett insisted, "You have no chance." Jasper raised an eyebrow.

"Bring it on." With that they both barrelled up the stairs pushing each other as they go, their banter could still be heard until we heard the sound of Jasper's bedroom door shutting. Both the girls turned to me with smiles on their faces, Rose had moved onto the couch with Alice whilst I swivelled round on the floor to face them, lying across one of our huge sofa pillows I grabbed of the sofa

"Dish the details!" Alice squealed, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

"We urm, did the sex, consummation scene today." I mumbled, knowing my face was getting redder by the minute.

"No wonder you seemed so dazed when you got home." Alice giggled, then frowned. "You seemed a little bit, I don't know, a bit off too, I think, was everything okay?" I looked at her, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised Alice has always been perceptive and Rose, well, she can read me like a damn book.

"I just, I don't know, I don't want to get in too deep, I don't want to fall then have no hope of pulling myself back when this is all over because whatever chemistry we have now will disappear when we finish all the performances in a couple of months time." I sighed brushing the hair out of my face. "And the chemistry between us could be fake; he could just be a better actor than we give him credit for." I rambled, still not completely sure how to sort the mess going on in my head, I mean imagining him as a drag queen is okay and all but it's not the best long term solution.

"Bella, when the two of you have a scene together, you should really see it for yourself, its completely hot, trust us, it's there." Rosalie grinned cheekily. "And anyway, he'd be stupid to let you go at the end of this, and trust me he seems interested." _Well if the thing poking in my leg earlier today was any indication..._

I felt like I was being stupid, something wasn't necessarily going to come out of this anyway. Rose nudged me with her foot giving me a reprimanding stare.

"Stop it! I know what you're doing you're worrying about all this. Just breath it's all going to be alright." She scolded. "Anyway enough with the depressing stuff, that's not happy talk, tell us what we _really_ want to know." She grinned.

"Is he as good as he looks?"I giggled at their eager faces. I only had to say two words and they were off.

"God yes." I broke out into a huge smile, as they started to bombard me with questions; they became especially chatty when I mentioned Edwards not so little problem. They wanted to know if he felt as big as all the girls who had "allegedly" slept with him, although I personally wasn't entirely convinced. That they'd all slept with him not that he wasn't big, I don't have much to compare it to, hell, I have nothing to compare it to, but I'm pretty sure Edwards bigger than average.

I am a virgin, I will admit it, I'm not some sex starved maniac, but I do want to get my first time over and done with so I can enjoy sex. I know some girls want the whole shebang, when it comes to their first time, I mean don't get me wrong I'm not going to throw myself at the first person that offers but I just think it's probably not worth all the hype, from what I've heard its sore, uncomfortable and generally awkward depending on who it's with.

I'm not really into the candle thing either I love candles but while candles are nice I'd be too much of a fire hazard, I'd like to keep all of my hair and vital limbs intact.

After an hour of chat we set up camp in the living room and somehow came to the conclusion that Alice was staying the night, it was Friday anyway so we didn't have to worry about being up early. We slipped a movie on; we decide to have a John Hughes marathon, Pretty in Pink, Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, all classics, all must haves for a girl's night. Emmett stayed too, upstairs with Jasper they hadn't come down at all, we put it down to the fact they had questioned each other's man hood so they probably wouldn't emerge until the morning.

Charlie got back later than expected, he told us that he'd had a lot of paperwork to sign down at the station and got caught up playing pokers with the guys. He seemed different though happier, I didn't ask, it was nice to see him less tired looking, he rolled his eyes looking at the three of us all sprawled out around the room, he just warned us not to make too much of a mess and that we had to clean up whatever mess we made, before putting up his gun belt and jacket and going upstairs to his room.

We just managed to watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off before we lost the will to stay awake and shut off the TV and pulled up the covers that we had grabbed from my room, on to our make shift bed out of the sofa cushions and the huge sofa pillows.

I snuggled down and fell asleep to thoughts of Edward, and his not so little problem.

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**Hope you liked! Once again happy holidays everyone! I hope I can get another chapter out before the New Year all fingers crossed! **

**Oh and I have the next chapter for my other story in the process of being beta'd so that should be up soon too if anyone here is waiting for that! Anyway my lovelies!**

**Much Love **

**Monstergirl**


	7. Cold suprises

**A/N Heyy I'm not gonna say much apart from I'm sorry I couldn't get this out sooner and happy belated New Year!**

**Thanks for all the favoriters, alerters and reviewers and readers love you all! **

**Disclaimer:**

**I own nada only the plot not even the song below which I think you should listen to!**

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But right now I feel like I'm losing control, losing control

Hey, hey, hey, hey  
My head is spinning cause of you  
Hey, hey, hey, hey  
You've no clue what you do  
Your the storm, let it rain  
You've got eyes like a hurricane

Hey, hey, hey, hey  
You've no clue what you do to me

What you do to me by We The Kings

BPOV 

Hate early, must kill early.

My eyes flickered open and darted to the clock on top of the mantel piece, it flashed _8.30_.

Ali, Rose, and I had pulled the blinds closed before we went to sleep so the living room was still dark; I rubbed my eyes not wanting to get up just yet. I burrowed my head into my cushion trying to get comfortable I closed my eyes and willed myself to sleep, it did no good, once I was awake it was virtually impossible for me to get back to sleep. I rubbed my heavy eyes, sat up and stretched, a loud clanging in the kitchen made me jump up, I hissed when my neck throbbed in pain I slowly rolled it all the way around. I hated having a cricked neck. I suppose it's what you get for sleeping on the floor in a weird position.

I looked down at Ali and Rose who where both spread out in opposite positions to what they fell asleep in. My pillow had moved half way across the room and Alice had thrown her foot over it after I'd moved. I rolled my eyes, slipped my white fluffy slippers on that I had been wearing the night before and padded into the kitchen to investigate. I laughed as I watch Emmett attempted to cut a slice of bread of the loaf with a butter knife, he was hacked away at it completely butchering the entire loaf. I walked over the draw and pulled out the bread knife. Emmet was frowning with concentration. I tapped him on the shoulder he turned and grinned at me before turning back to his masterpiece.

"Hey Bells."

"Hey." I laughed. "You might want to try using this knife instead."

He turned and shot me a playful glare plucking the knife from my hand, making and appreciative sound when the bread started to cut easier, I laughed under my breath. I grabbed the box of Coco Pops from the cupboard and grabbed the milk from the fridge pouring over a large bowl of the cereal; I hummed contently as I started to eat the chocolaty goodness. I looked back over to Emmett to see how he was getting on with his sandwich. He was now trying to attempt to butter his bread with the bread knife.

"What are you doing now?" I sighed.

"Buttering my bread." He muttered in a '_isn't it obvious'_ tone without looking up from the bread.

"You're using a bread knife." I pointed out baffled, "You're supposed to use the butter knife for that you know." I said as a suggestion, he waved me off.

"Nah, I'm doing it my way." He grins; I hit my head softly with one hand.

"Oh! Of course, you mean the crazy way." I said, rolling my eyes, taking another big spoonful of Coco Pops, I hummed and licked my lips, delicious.

"It's the Emmett way." He said nodding sagely, I laughed and patted him on the shoulder, I walked to the kettle and filled it with water and flicked the switch to start it boiling. "Want a coffee or tea or somethin' Em?" I said through a yawn stretching my hands upwards ringing them together, stretching up onto my tiptoes.

"I'll have a coffee please Bells."

"Okay, I'm gonna go a see if either if the girls want anything." I padded back into the living room, and found the two of them curled up in duvet cocoons wrapped all the way round their necks watching, Friends re-runs, I laughed at the pair, they both turned and stuck out their tongues at me which only made me laugh harder. I lifted both my hands in surrender when they both picked up a pillow each readying to chuck them at me.

"Wait, I surrender." I laughed. "I just came to ask if either of you wanted some coffee or tea or anything, but if you going to chuck pillows at me then I'll just leave." I turned away slowly and started to slowly walk back to the kitchen.

_5...4...3...2...1_

"No!" I turned grinning, they are so predictable.

"Orders girls?" I drawled pretending to get ready to take down their orders.

"Ooh can I get a skinny latte, with a small dollop of whipped cream." I raised an eyebrow, "fine I'll just have a coffee two sugars, you know how I like it." She winked, I then turned to Alice who grinned still wrapped in her duvet cocoon the only part of her body showing was her face as she'd managed to pull the duvet up over her head and round her chin.

"Alice wants coffee too please!" she chirped, I wasn't sure she need any, she is constantly hyper, I honestly don't know where the energy comes from, also the girl can eat and eat and eat and never gain any weight, she probably has a high metabolism so burns of food quicker. I hate to say it but I'm jealous. She grins at me through her cocoon the duvet having slipped over her eyes only her smile visible, she looks like some kind of Cheshire caterpillar, minus the disappearing and the opium smoking, well no opium that I know of.

Laughing I went back into the kitchen, the kettle clicked and I grabbed four mugs, I made the coffees, I inhaled the smell my mouth watering at the thick smell of coffee. I lifted the mug of coffee to my lips and took a sip, I looked over the rim of the mug spluttering try to contain my laughter when I saw Emmett attempting to eat his "sandwich" it must have been about 5 inches thick the two pieces slanting this way and that . Emmett tilting his head to the side trying to find an angle that he could get his mouth round the hunk of sandwich. I placed my mug down and grabbed Emmett's.

"Here." I offered him the mug, which he took with a grin. "You know not even your big mouth will fit around the sandwich." I teased; he glared at me over the mug.

"Ha ha, you're so funny."

"Oh I know." I laughed and grabbed Ali and Rose's coffee and carrying the mugs into the living room, Alice was still all wrapped up, and Rose was sat leaning against the sofa giggling at the TV. "Orders up girls!" I passed one mug to Rose the coffee with more milk, then the other the darker coffee to Alice who had stuck both hands out of her cocoon, cooing when she brought the mug to her lips.

"Mmm that's some good coffee bells." Alice hummed; I smiled and did a curtsy.

"Glad to be of service madam, now what breakfast orders do the ladies want?" They both grinned at me.

"Ooh Pancakes! No waffles! No eggs! No muffins! Bacon! " I rolled my eyes at the pair, they were both the same they can eat and eat, it's probably why Rose and Emmett are such a good pair, they can both eat inordinate amounts of food. I suppose they also share a love for classic cars, Roses dream car is a Mercury Comet in black preferably with red interior, she wants to buy one and restore it. Her car at the moment is a black 1958 BMW sports car which as I said she saved up for and bought from a local car dealer they were going to junk it but, she bought it and her and Emmett restored it together.

"And bacon!" Emmett called from the kitchen. _What did I say? Perfect match._

"Okay, I'll just make a load of everything then we can all eat whatever we want, and yes I'll make some bacon." I rolled my eyes and jogged into the kitchen, passing Emmett as he took his "sandwich" in to the living room. I eyed him sceptically. "Are you sure you'll be able to eat after ingesting that monstrosity?" He just looked at me. "Never mind stupid question, where's Jasper?" I looked around noticing my dear brother hadn't come down stairs yet.

"I think he's still recovering for his gigantic ass kicking I gave him last night." Emmet grinned like a proud child.

"You beat me once, Emmett, once, and that was at four in the morning, I don't even know how you're awake right now." Jasper drawled walking into the kitchen; he ran a hand through his hair pushing the thick blond hair out of his eyes, yawning. Emmett shrugged.

"I got hungry."

"You're always hungry Emmett, What was all the talk about breakfast?" Jasper grinned innocently.

"I'm making breakfast for everyone, so place your orders now otherwise I cannot be held responsible if you don't get what you want." I grinned as I started to lift out all the ingredients for the waffles, pancakes and muffins. I grabbed the bread and searched the fridge and freezer for the bacon, there was none there, I search again in case I had missed it first time round, but alas there was no bacon. I lifted my head out of the freezer and turned to Emmett. "No bacon Em sorry."

"What? You must be mistaken." He pouted then gave me the look.

"Emmett..." I sighed, I knew what he wanted. "I am not going to the shops just to buy you bacon." I shook my head.

"Bella" He whined, pouting even more, Jasper just looked from him to me and rolled his eyes.

"Bella just go, you know what he's like he'll be in a sulk for the rest of the day otherwise, I'll start here it won't take you long." I narrowed my eyes at him; I looked down at my pyjamas, consisting of a tank top and three quarter jogging bottoms, I was too comfy to change and I really couldn't be bothered to go to get bacon. Although the more I thought about the bacon the more I started to crave a huge bacon sandwich. I knew Jasper was right though Emmett was terrible when in a sulk.

"Fine." I sighed. "But don't let Emmett near the cooking; he can't even make cereal without it going wrong." I warned remembering the last time Emmett decided to try and cook anything, he had decided he wanted warm milk on his cereal, so what does he do? He puts the milk in the microwave, bowl, spoon and all, and Emmett being Emmett watched it go round and round in the microwave. Then when the spoon started to spark he ran around the kitchen like a headless chicken screaming bloody murder. It was lucky Alice had got down stairs in time or the whole fucking house would have set on fire.

Emmett grinned at me and scooped me up into a hug, my feet lifting off the ground.

"Thank you Bells."

"You're welcome." I rolled my eyes as he placed me down, I wandered upstairs to my room to get changed, when "I pushed open the door I once again looked down at my pyjamas and sighed, I was way too comfy, eyed my leather jacket, it was warm, if I covered my _sweet dreams_ pyjama top then you would hardly know I was in pyjamas, plus I barely felt the cold anyway. I contemplated sticking a bra on, but decided against it reasoning with myself that I'd be there and back within ten – fifteen minutes.

Plus who am I going to see at this time in the morning?

I pulled on my jacket, plodded downstairs and grabbed my car keys and purse off the side, I glared at them all as I passed through the lounge to see them all snuggled up in the make shift beds on the floor. "You owe me for this Cullen." I grumbled, heading towards the door to brave the elements.

"Love you to Bells." He called, lifted his head from the crook of Rosalie's neck where he had previously been peppering with kisses.

"Pshh it's only because I'm bringing you bacon." I called back, "Oh and Jasper don't forget to start the breakfast, and please do not set anything on fire till I get back; I don't want to miss anything." I got into my truck and drove to the twenty four hour mini mart, which was just a couple of minutes away from the house. I hummed along to the radio, my spirits high all the way to the market, then as soon as I reached the market and there were no cars in the lot, I quickly realized my morning was going to shit. I got out of the car, and walked up to the door.

I groaned as I got closer reading the opening times sheet stuck to the inside of the door, the supposed twenty four hour market wasn't actually open for twenty four hours, and didn't open for another hour at ten thirty. So much for open twenty for hours a day... Great, now I'm going to have to go to Wal-Mart which is another ten minutes away, which not only means I have to stay out longer, but also means I increase the risk of running into someone I know. I walked back to my car cursing Emmett and bacon to high hell, I growled and headed to Wal-Mart, I've gone too far now to turn back, I would get that damn bacon if it's the last fucking thing I do.

I drove all the way to Wal-Mart, determined to be in and out as fast as possible, I'd even endure the self check out if it meant I could get out of there quickly. I pulled up in the Wal-Mart parking lot and pulled up as closer to the door as possible. I jumped out of the truck and jogged towards the sliding doors inside, a cool gust of air hitting me on my way. Just as I stepped in and frowned, I stopped and wiggled my toes around, oh god, just perfect. I looked down to my feet and groaned, I was still wearing my slippers. At first I considered taking them off then I realised my feet would be freezing and it would look impossibly weirder, if I could get out quickly hopefully no one would notice my odd choice in footwear. I just counted my blessing I hadn't stepped in any puddles.

I fought the urge to kick the closet thing in the vicinity, which unfortunately would have been an old lady with a lot of bags looking like she was about to topple over. I let out a breath and strode towards the meat section like a mad woman, white fluffy slippers and all. I breathed a sigh of relief when I reached the fridges and grabbed a couple of packs of bacon, just to be on the safe side. I stood and took a breath in, liking the cold air coming from the freezers, it was weirdly comforting, forgetting myself I unzipped my jacket down a fraction. I opened my eyes breathing out a calming breath; I walked back down towards the checkouts. I walked past the aisle with all the cooking ingredients; I turned might as well gets some chocolate chips for the pancakes whilst I'm here, jogged down the aisle to grab a bag, or two, What? I deserve it! Then turned to leave.

"Edward? Cariño, be a dear and grab me a bag of flour and sugar would you? Were out and you know how your father is with his coffee I swear his dentist bills must be through the roof! And your mother requested I bake an apple pie for after your dinner tomorrow." I froze, oh please, no, oh please, fate don't be so cruel!

"Sure Grace." A familiar voice chuckled, is it not enough that I'm wearing fluffy white slippers and am in my pyjamas with only a jacket to hide that fact, but Edward has to be here. Of all the people fate could have thrown in my way, Edwards footsteps get closer, I turn and bolt doing something only I could do, I ran straight into a huge stack of sugar on the shelf's. Causing a huge sugar avalanche to come pouring down with a loud thud, alerting everyone within a two mile radius that: Bella Swan is here. I might as well have got a sign twirler to follow me around that would have been more inconspicuous than this.

"Shit!" I cursed loudly, I looked up to see Edward just turning the corner I dashed toward the end of the aisle only to turn back and see Edwards brow furrow in confusion.

"Bella?" _Bella's not here right now, she's currently dying from mortification, but if you leave your name and number she'll get back to you as soon as she reaches the afterlife, thank you. _

"I'm going crazy." He muttered, no, you're not, I am. I sagged against the shelves on the end of the aisle, and let out a breath as I heard his footsteps retreat back down the aisle, thank god. I looked left and right, checking to see if the coast was clear so I could make a mad dash to the checkout. I nodded to myself feeling like some kind of spy. I can just see it now Bella Swan double o clumsy, the most conspicuous spy on the planet.

I clutched my shopping to me tightly, as I jogged down to the checkouts, keeping an eye out for Edward and anyone else I might know, with my luck Lauren would walk in, or the school principal. God, I can just imagine how that would go "Hi Lauren, Principal Greene, I've just popped to Wal-Mart in my pyjamas to grab some bacon for Emmett. The slippers? Oh, well I was just so damn comfy I forgot I was wearing them! Imagine that!" I'm becoming hysterical. I'm losing it. I took a deep breath, trying to calm the flurry of thoughts and emotions inside me. During my minds hysterical episode, my keeping an eye out tactic failed miserably when I walked straight into a woman and her, very heavy, trolley.

"Oh my god I am so sorry, I wasn't paying attention, my mind was elsewhere probably in Europe somewhere." I rambled, flushing bright red when she regarded me with a kind but concerned smile.

"It's all right." She said, her eyes were wide and crinkled at the sides even more so as she smiled, they were a smooth hazel brown, a similar colour to her hair which had a few silver strands threw it, she wore light blue jeans with tattered bottoms and a dusky pink sweater. She then started to bend over to collect some of the things she had dropped; I dropped down immediately to help, feeling guilty. She looked up at me her brows furrowed. "Oh no, no you don't have to do that." Her voice had an accent to it, Portuguese or Spanish or Mexican, Accents weren't my strongest point.

"Please, it's the least I can do after walking into you." I assured her smiling sheepishly. "I tend to cause havoc wherever I go." I rambled, my hands gesturing wildly as I placed the bread and other things I had just picked up back into her trolley, she laughed softly, and placed a calming hand on my arm.

"Calm down, it's not the end of the world." She laughed kindly.

"I know, my whole mornings got to crap, sorry about my swearing." I looked at her apologetically. "All I wanted was to get some bacon for breakfast for me and my friends, but everything that could possibly have gone wrong has."

"I'm sure it's not as bad as you think." She said as we both bent down to collect some more of the dropped items. "Just remember it could be worse."

"I suppose." I sighed; I stood, placed the last few items back in her trolley and brushed my hands on my trousers. "Again I'm really sorry."

"Would you stop apologizing, I'm just grateful you stopped to help not many people would have done. Thank you ..." She trailed of questioningly.

"Bella, I'm Bella Swan."

"I'm Grace." Alarm bells went off in my head, thinking back to Edward and who he had been talking too earlier I berated myself, now I'm just being paranoid there's probably over a million graces in this country alone, she frowned as if something was bothering her, then the penny dropped in her expression. "Swan? The chief's daughter?" She asked sounding pleasantly surprised, I nodded.

"That would be me." Forks isn't a large place, so practically everyone knows everyone, it can be both a blessing and a curse, there are the few people who live on the edge of town on the more expensive area, which is a minority as the private schools are out closer to the city, but most people knew Charlie from around anyway, Me, Rose and Jasper were lucky because the town is small and we grew up with the people we currently go to school with the fact Charlie is the chief of police never really became an issue as everyone was use to it. We weren't always favourites to invite to party's which being who are dad was, wasn't all that surprising, but we weren't ostracized because of it. Grace had started to reply when a voice calling her name stopped her before she could.

"Grace?" the voice was low masculine and just the person whom I had been wishing it wasn't. You have got to be kidding me!

"Over here Edward!" She called over her shoulder, she looked back at me. "You go to Forks High school don't you?" she asked, I knew where this was going, I nodded quickly my pulse racing, I just wanted to get out of there. I had once again become hyper aware of what I was wearing, rather than moments ago when I had completely forgotten.

"Yeah I... Um yeah I do, why?" I shifted my weight and looked over my shoulder feigning interest in the sale on jam on the shelf close by.

"My Edward goes there, Edward Mason you wouldn't happen to know him would you?" she asked.

"Yes, Yeah I do." _Better than you think..._ I didn't think she'd want the details so I answered simply; "He's in a couple of my classes actually." I tested my hands together in front of me hearing his advancing footsteps coming from the adjacent aisle, I was lucky enough to be hidden by the wide end of the aisle, so until he turned the corner he wouldn't see me, I still had time to make a speedy exit.

"How lovely such a small world! He's just coming now, why don't you stay and say hello." She said.

"I mustn't, I have to get back, make sure my brother hasn't burnt the house down, but it was lovely meeting you." I rambled nervously, she laughed heartily.

"You too Bella, well then I mustn't keep you, I'll tell Edward you said hello then."

"Sure." I smiled not wanting to be rude. "Bye." I just turned to leave and began to walk away when I heard another voice behind me.

"Grace who were you talking to?"

"Bella Swan very nice girl,"

"Bella?"

"Yes, she just up ahead Cariño look." _Please god don't._

"Bella!" I turned slowly and smiled.

"Hi!" I greeted cheerfully,

"Hey" He looked at me strangely, _can you blame him?_

"I was just talking to Bella about you; she said you knew each other." His eyebrows shot up, eyes searching my face to see if I had told her how we know each other, he shoulders tense.

"She said you have a couple of classes together." Some of the tension melted from his shoulders but he still regarded me curiously.

"Yeah, we do." Edward confirmed. Grace smiled cheekily and looked between the two of us, I didn't like that look.

"I'll leave you too alone, I'm sure you want to talk without me plus I'm sure your brother can manage to keep the house fire free for a little while longer." She grinned and carried on walking turning down another aisle muttering something under her breath. An awkward silence fell over the two of us, he hadn't seemed to notice my odd attire, we I was hugely thankful for, I scrambled for something, anything to say.

"So... your mom seems lovely." I said, hazarding a guess, I didn't want to guess she was his grandmother, if she wasn't Edward or Grace or both of them might find that insulting at least if I guess mother and I'm wrong grace might take it as a compliment, although she could be neither, which means it could be taken as a compliment or an insult. I was stopped with my inner ramblings when he spoke a soft smile on his lips.

"She's not my mom." He chuckled; he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand looking incredible awkward all of a sudden. "She my family's maid." My eyebrows shot up. Now that I didn't expect

"Oh, you go grocery shopping with your maid?" I asked surprised, the word maid sounding foreign on my lips. I watched the tips of his ears go pink, I couldn't understand why though; I thought it was sweet, completely and utterly unexpected, but really sweet.

"I ...Well...Yeah, I do." He brought his hand from the back of his neck into his hair tugging at it. "She needed some extra hands, so I uh, volunteered." He looked at me, his eyes urging me not to ask anything else; I nodded softly digesting the information. A smirk broke out across his face. "Nice Pyjamas." My eyes shot up from the ground up to his eyes, then widening. I had temporarily forgotten my clothing situation.

"Right, thanks." I muttered, not wanting to elaborate on the subject, I'd rather not retell the tale of my morning, I scramble through my mind for an excuse to get out of there when I remember I could just tell him the truth, or well the bent truth I told Grace, his maid, I still couldn't quite get my head around that. "I have to go, can't keep Emmett waiting he'll want his bacon, has the patience and attention span of a gnat that one." I laughed going into full ramble mode.

"Sure... I'll see you Monday then." He grinned looking me up and down, then shook his head laughing. I cocked my head to the side. "Are you feeling a little cold?" He chuckled, was this some kind of pick up line?

"No..." I answered thoroughly confused, this only seemed to make him laugh harder; I smile confused and turned to leave. "Well I'll see you."

"Sure." He chuckled; I shook my head as I walked away. "Bella! One last thing, you do know it's rude to point." I turned all the way back and frowned, what the hell was he talking about sensing my confusion, his gaze travelled down my body until he was staring unabashedly at my chest. I brought my hands up to put them over my chest, feeling all kinds of self conscious, my eyes widening when I realised what he was talking about. I hadn't zipped up my jacket, and we were stood by one of the freezer aisles, I looked down and saw that not only was my sweet dreams pyjama shirt on show, but my nipples had decided to make an appearance too. Now that's just the cherry on top of my craptastic morning. I blushed bright red and Edward let out another laugh, winking at me cheekily before walking passed me his shoulders shaking with laughter.

Please, just let the floor swallow me up.

I zipped up my jacket all the way to the top covering my whole chest so my nipples couldn't make a comeback appearance. I speed walked to the self checkout, I scanned the things as fast as I could without wanting to punch whoever recorded the voice for the machine, it had to be one of the most frustrating things on the planet especially when I just wanted to get out of there. I snatched the bag and jogged out of there as soon as the machine told me to; please take my items.

I broke into a run as soon as I was out of the shop and climbed in my car as fast as I could; stopping for only a second to take a breath, then sped out of there, giving any race driver a run for their money.

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**A/N Hope you liked it! sneak peeks as always!**

**I'll get the next chapter up ASAP**

**Much Love **

**Monstergirl**


	8. Chocolate chips And Feeling Warmer

**A/N Heyy! Sorry this took me so long! Life caught up with me I guess and I wasn't happy with the first direction I had decided to take it so I deleted it then re wrote it. But anyway hope you like it!**

**Big hugs to all Favoriters, alerters, reviews and just all you readers in general! **

**On with the show! **

**Disclaimer: **

**Me: Mpf**

**Jasper: Say it out loud say.**

**Me: Isn't that Edwards line?**

**Jasper: Well yes but him and Bella are otherwise occupied so he asked me to stand in**

**Me: Okay...**

**Jasper: Say it! **

**Me: NO!**

**Jasper: *manipulates emotions***

**Me:*giggles* I don't own twilight!**

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BPOV

I threw myself through the door as soon as I reached the house, rivalling Jasper with the state of my parking. I slumped against the door clutching the shopping bag to me like a life preserver, I screamed, banging my head back against the door. Why me? I let the bag slip into my lap and ran my hands over my face. This could only happen to me. The sound of footsteps trampled down the hall falling over each other.

"Bella? What's wrong? Are you okay? What's with the screaming? Is that bacon?" I was bombarded with a thousand questions when Rose, Alice, Jasper and Emmet ran down the hall and pulled to a stop in front of me.

"I'm fine, just feeling... confused, angry, stressed, unbelievably embarrassed and I can't wait for my chocolate chip pancakes" I sighed pushing myself up off the ground, Alice and Rosalie looked at me, Alice frowned questioningly and Rosalie raised a brow. "I'll explain later and yes Emmett this is bacon and I have some chocolate chips, which if I don't put in some pancakes soon I am going to them eat straight from the packets, so let's go, Jasper please tell me you've started to make breakfast?" I asked, Jasper smiled at me sheepishly.

"Started would a bit of an overstatement."

"Jasper!" I groaned, going into full pout mode, I wanted my pancakes and I wanted them now Damnit! I deserve it after everything I've been through I mean I could have died of embarrassment then where would they all be? Well starving for a start, bacon less and very lost, I know I'm modest but you see I'm the one who wakes everyone up in the morning, then they wake up their respective others so therefore without me the whole morning would dissolve into chaos; I generally do all the cooking since Rosalie has shocking cooking skills. I mean she's not as likely to burn the place down as Emmett, but you can count on her to give you food poisoning for not cooking the food properly, a trait she obviously inherited from Charlie.

Jasper helps with the cooking sometimes, he's pretty good at cooking to be fair to him and Alice well her cooking has never caused any type of emotional or physical harm to any of us or our kitchen so she can be counted on. Once again looking at the traits shared between the two couples it's no wonder there all together. I didn't mind though, I liked doing things for everyone; it was comforting to know I was helping in some way.

"I have started the pancake mix bells." Jasper said happily, I perked up at this.

"Well then? What are we waiting for?" I grinned and walked into the kitchen, the work surface was covered in flour, egg, eggshells, water and whatever else. Sat in the centre of the work top was the bowl with the mix in, there seemed to be more mix on the surface than in the bowl but none the less I wanted my pancakes. I grabbed a packet of chocolate chips and pour them in licking my lips, my stomach grumbled as the smell of the chocolate wafted up to my nose making my mouth water.

I chucked the bag with the bacon and the other packet of chocolate chips inside it to Emmett; he grabbed the bag as I threw it and looked in it rummaging around. "Emmett? Start cooking the bacon; I'll start the pancakes and Jasper? You get the waffle maker out of the cupboard and you can do that, Rose, Alice? You can do the rest, you said you wanted eggs right? If you start doing that and anything else we've forgotten, then we should get this breakfast done in no time." I said, looking at each of them, they nodded then Emmett saluted.

"Yes sir!" He shouted.

"Sir?" I raised a brow.

"I mean ma'am." He spluttered looking sheepish, the others laughed as they watched us.

"Much better." I grinned and saluted back. "At ease soldier" I teased, he grinned at me and made his way to the draw pulling out some scissors opening the bacon packet and getting on with his job following just behind the others, I turned and grabbed the pancake mix off the work surface, the sides covered in spilled mixture making my hands sticky. I moved over to the hob and started to make the pancakes getting lost in thoughts of the morning, I averted my eyes from the pan to check the time: _10:45. _It had only been a couple of hours since I first got up this morning yet so much has already happened.

I carried on making breakfast silently, but enthusiastically, my stomach grumbling loudly and constantly when I had finished with a huge stack of pancakes piled high on the plate the smell alone made me want to devour them. I turned to the rest of them who looked to be finishing their cooking too.

"I'm gonna set the table and put out the pancakes, you all nearly done?" I asked looking over my shoulder as I walked out of the room, a chorus of yes's and mmhmm's followed me into the next room. I walked into the attached to the living and dining room; I placed the plate down onto the table then grabbed some plates and cutlery from the kitchen as the others walked in and out of the kitchen putting all the food on the table.

We all took a seat at the table and dug in, I stacked my plate 3 chocolate chip pancakes high and drizzled some syrup on them. I hummed appreciatively when I took my first bite. Man these taste good.

"So Bells, you gonna tell us what earlier was about?" I looked up, my cheeks stuffed with pancake, to see all of them turned my way.

"Whaf?" I asked through the food in my mouth.

"You know what I mean Bells." Alice said raising her eyebrow challenging me to correct her, I rolled my eyes.

"Ifs nof ab bif beel." I mumbled.

"It is a big deal! And quit talking with your mouth full." Alice insisted scrunching up her nose in disgust, I swallowed then grinned at her.

"Yes your _highness_ and it's not, really!" I mutter sarcastically, I knew she wouldn't give up on this but it was worth a shot.

"She's right Bella it is a big deal, plus you know what not know things does to both of us." Rosalie pointed out. "So Spill." She ordered fixing me with her icy stare, I smiled – lucky for me, I'm immune to the ice queen's stare; she was my sister after all. I looked down at my plate and took another bite of pancake trying to avoid the question, hoping they would either forget about it or drop it. I took a look up seeing all four of them still watching me. No such luck.

"Bella..." She said warningly trailing off.

"I raf inbu edfarb ab walmarb." I said mumbling quietly once again through a mouthful of food, my gaze never moving from the plate.

"You ran into Edward at Wal-Mart?" Alice frowned confused, her frown quickly smoothed out, replaced by a devious grin. "You ran into Edward at Wal-Mart?" I nodded, feeling myself blush at the memory. "What happened Bella?" Alices grin widened as she caught me blushing. I relented looking up from my food, my face feeling incredibly hot. I told them everything about what had happened, they found the fact I had wore my slippers in Wal-Mart and the nipple situation, particularly funny. I left out who Edward was with not entirely comfortable telling them and I wasn't sure why, it might have been because of the way he looked at me after he had told me, it wasn't quite regretful but that he knew he had told me something personal, I didn't want to betray his trust whether or not he asked me not to say anything.

"So what was he doing there that early? I would have thought he would have been at home nursing a hangover or something, I heard Jane had a party last night, I would have thought he would have gone." Emmett mused, Jane is one of the "richies" at school, she's one of the more preppy of the group, her mom, Didyme, or Dida as she is known to most people, is the CEO of a big publishing company in Seattle, she had wanted to send Jane to a private school, but Jane hadn't been able to get in on her own merit and unlike Lauren's father she wasn't about to buy her daughter's way into the school, for that reason I had the utmost respect for Dida, even if she came off as cold to most people.

I had worked at her company for work experience during the summer, I want to take English literature at college then either go onto do publishing or publish something of my own, although, I don't know if I could bring myself to show someone other than Rose or Alice my work, admittedly Jasper has seen some of it he knows I write and respects the fact I want to keep it to myself, even though I know he's curious.

Jane on the other hand was another version of Lauren, bitchy, in the same crowd, but far more down to earth, not the sharpest pencil in the box, but she was more into the arts side of learning than the academics. Which I have to admit Jane is really good at; she just doesn't excel in the maths and science side of things. I did have a couple of conversations with her when I was doing my work experience, they weren't long conversations, the first few only consisting of about three words bring, me and coffee, but eventually we both came to an understanding with each other. We ended on friendly terms at the end of summer, she sends me a smile or a nod when we pass each other in the school halls, nothing overly friendly, but it was something. Although were she's not keen on my friends I'm not keen on hers either.

There was an almost split in the richer kids who attended Forks High, the one preppier group, and the other who, to be frank didn't appear to give a shit. Although both groups gave out an arrogant persona, you may think I'm being judgemental but I've known these people for a while its hard not to be. Edward and Lauren are in different social groups, which is why it sometimes surprises me that they are together. I sometimes wonder if there's an ulterior motive to it, but then I think, Edwards a guy he has needs and Lauren can fulfill them, plus she's blond and has big boobs (Whether they are her own or not I couldn't tell you). I know the way guys think, I mean I have a brother, and I know in a few years Emmett will be joining the family, he already practically lives at the house and our fridge, him and Rose are joined at the hip, I honestly can't see her with anyone else as cliché as it sounds. Alice isn't blond and isn't particularly big chested but that doesn't mean Jasper's mind still doesn't work that way, I've been in his room, I almost didn't make it out alive, it's funny really he has crap cleaning skills, yet all his clothes are all neat in his draws and wardrobe, although that could be Alice's influence. Although ever since Alice and Jasper officially started going out most of his "car" posters have vacated the wall.

As I was saying, I always seem to get sidetracked I can go from one thought to another not even knowing how I got there, Lauren and Edward are probably together without any \ulterior motive, it's probably just me reading into things.

"Bella!" my head snapped up braking out of my thoughts, turns out I had been staring intently at the plant pot in the corner of the room without even realising it.

"Hmf?" I looked over at Emmett who was currently waving a hand around in front of my face; I swatted it away and looked over at him.

"What were you doing you looked like you where having some kind of telepathic conversation with the plant?" Emmett snickered, I rolled my eyes.

"I was thinking." I shrugged.

"Dangerous pastime." Emmett nodded wisely, taking another bite of his bacon humming happily as he chewed.

"I know." I smirked, taking another bite of pancake, fulfilling my chocolate craving.

"So? You never answered my question." Emmett reminded waving his fork in my direction.

"Oh?" I shrugged. "Don't know, didn't ask, didn't really want to hang around when I realised I was walking round a public place in fluffy slippers ya know?" I lied muttering sarcastically, technically it was the truth, I didn't want to hang around and I technically didn't ask what he was doing there even though it was pretty obvious.

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit." Emmett shot back, I rolled my eyes.

"Who said I was trying to be witty." I challenged grinning, Emmett grinned back at me I breathed and inward sigh of relive, the conversation had been successfully diverted. The conversation carried on with ease as we ate, never going back to Edward or anything in that subject area, although Emmett had taken to jibing me about my slippers, telling me I should wear them to school and they can be the next fashion statement.

The rest of the weekend passed uneventfully, well when I say uneventfully; I mean nothing out of the ordinary happened, Emmett and Alice didn't leave us until Sunday afternoon when they had to leave to get work done before Monday, either way, by Sunday night we were all tired and all out of food. Charlie had worked the night shift Saturday night so we were all grateful for the extra company, he was used to them staying over at the weekends, Alice and Emmett were family, no question, he didn't mind if they stayed over. So by Sunday night I was utterly tired, both emotionally and physically, I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened at Wal-Mart, not a lot happened, but I couldn't help be confused by it all and feel like I had wrongly judged Edward.

I climbed into my bed pulling the covers up around my chin sighing in contentment as I was wrapped in warmth; I turned over to switch off the light and caught sight of the play script on my bedside table. I hadn't thought of the play all weekend it had been a nice break a relief from all that drama, I leaned over a flicked the switch of my lamp, a blanket of darkness falling over the room, my eyes fell shut sending me almost immediately into a deep sleep.

XxX

"Good morning everyone!" Ms. Murphy chirped, clapping her hands together, I groaned and massaged my temples, it was way too early for someone to have that kind of energy, we had all taken our seats in the auditorium and Ms. Murphy have skipped up onto the stage more energetic than usual, she giggled to herself and threw her arms wide. "I have some great news for you all!" I perked up slightly, Good news? "Seeing as spring is coming up and as you all know the spring dance I managed to get the principle to make the theme a Shakespearean masquerade! Isn't that wonderful? The dance will be in two weeks time so you need to get busy getting dates and dresses."

A dance? That was the good news? I've never been to a dance or prom and had a good time they had always been disasters, most of the time, in fact all of the time I never had a date, the other times my dress was terrible, you would think with a sister like Rosalie and a best friend like Alice that a great dress was a given right? Wrong. It wasn't that the dresses were hideous, everyone said I looked nice but I never felt the same way, I guess I had that secret fantasy of that amazing dress that you would feel so beautiful in, and you turn heads, I never got that. Also the fact that Lauren and her freinds, decided to take it upon themselves to make me feel like crap, well apart from Jane that is, she actually defended me in her own twisted way. I actually think the best dance I had was the one I didn't go to, I curled up on the couch and watched episode after episode of Friends and Gilmore Girls. I know what you must be thinking; I have such a booming social life!

Ms Murphy's cheeks were flushed pink with excitement; I think she was more excited about this than we were. I'd probably just spend another riveting night in front of the TV, I'd watched every single Gilmore Girl's episode some with friends, I could always watch something else? Maybe a movie or something? Or I could Wikipedia random things, ah Wikipedia it has got me through some boring days and some boring essays.

A hum of voices filled the room some high and excited, some low and less than excited, Alice nudged my side, I turned to her knowing exactly what was about to come out of her mouth.

"This is going to be so much fun!" She squealed. "I can't wait to go dress shopping again! Oh, and we get to buy some fabulous masks too!" I sighed at her enthusiasm; it wasn't as if I expected anything less of Alice if there was one thing Alice loved just as much as Jasper, well not as much, it was shopping. I liked seeing the final outfits but I didn't like having to go through the painstaking process of getting the clothes to put them together.

"Yeah you'll have a lot of fun Alice." I smiled nodded; she grinned and nodded, then frowned turning towards me.

"Just me? You're not going to skip the dance again Bella? Are you?" She asked, her voice sounding disappointed, not surprised, but not happy.

"What did you expect?" I chuckled grinning at her; she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Why did I get the sister who hates shopping?" Rose muttered from next to Alice, I laughed.

"Aw love you too Rose." I pouted cheekily. "Plus I don't hate it; I just have to be in the mood."

I tapped my chin thoughtfully. "Although I'm rarely in that kind of mood." Alice suddenly looked thoughtful, her eyebrows rising as a thought past through her head then a devious smile spread across her face, oh no, I know that look, I don't like that look, not one bit, the last time she had that look, well let's just say there are people still recovering from it. Alice turn to Rose and told her something too quietly for me to hear, whatever it was Rose seemed to like it.

"Okay."

"What?"

"Okay, you don't have to go to the dance and I won't force you." I raised a brow.

"Okay, alright, I'll bite what's the catch?" I asked curiously, Alice simply looked at me innocently, innocent my ass.

"It's not a catch per say." She said being completely ominous.

"Per say?" I urged her to continue, she nodded.

"It's more of a compromise."

"Alice... what kind of a compromise?" I asked warily.

"I'll make you a deal, you don't have to go to the dance and I will relinquish all nagging rights, unless." She paused; this as getting frustrating was she being intentionally evasive? She grinned, it seemed so, she loved this. "Unless someone asks you to be there date, then you have to go" I thought about this, it didn't seem too unreasonable, and plus, who was going to ask me?

Eric? Maybe, but there was no way in hell I was going to go with him, Edward? No, that suggestion was laughable, for one he had a girlfriend and two he isn't even remotely interested on me in that way.

"Sure." I shrugged casually, I was already planning my big night in my head, I needed movies, junk food and some popcorn; it is junk food, yes, but you can't watch movies without popcorn, you just can't. "It's not like anyone's going to ask me." A smile spread across Alice and Rose's face.

"We'll see." Alice sang, just what were those two up to?

"It has to be someone I want to go with though." I reasoned, thinking about if Eric did decide to ask me I wasn't going to go with him.

"Hmm. Alright." Alice nodded, I sighed. "But I have to see who the person is first, for all I know you could just say you don't want to go with the person who asks just to get out of going." She raised a brow, she knew me well. I placed my hand over my heart and gasped in shock.

"That really hurts you know, it sounds like you don't trust me!" I sniffed feigning hurt. She just rolled her eyes.

"Cut it out drama queen." Rose laughed. Before I could respond Ms. Murphy cleared her throat

"Alright! It's time to start rehearsal everybody lets go to act 3 scene five so let's have our Romeo, Juliet, nurse and our Capulet's up on stage." She grinned at us all and at her command me, Rose, Alice, Eric and Edward all walked onto the stage. I looked over at Edward just as he looked up my cheeks flushing bright red thinking back to the weekend. We all took our places on the stage, Edward was stood so close I could feel the body heat coming off him, he chuckled, I could feel the vibrations as he did, he leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"Feeling a little warmer Bella?"

Oh you have no idea.

A shiver ran down my spine, one of the good kind, I had no clue what to say so I just kept my mouth shut. He smirked his mouth pulled up more on one side, my breathing picked up, I could smell the cologne he used due to his closeness, his hair fell messily, but oh so sexily into his eyes as he leaned back away, he began to speak obviously he had been listening to Ms. Murphy, when my mind was otherwise occupied. My mind was still fuzzy and if it hadn't been for the fact my line was coming up I probably would have been an unattractive mess on the floor. I cleared my throat:

"Art thou gone so? Love, lord, ay, husband, friend! I must hear from thee every day in the hour, for in a minute there are many days: O, by this count I shall be much in years, ere I again behold my Romeo" I breathed, blushing feeling incredibly self conscious all of a sudden. We carried on the rest of the scene fast, although I had to fight to stay in character when Rosalie kept wincing whenever she had to refer to Eric as husband or vice versa, and the fact that Eric seemed to get too much pleasure out of Rosalie calling him sir.

"If all else fails myself have the power to die." I murmured the last lines, becoming engrossed in that last paragraph of monologue. I have always thought that this may have been a bit drastic but I suppose it you try and look at it from a girl in that time period it might not seem all that strange. She had had everything else taken away from her, that the power to kill herself was really all she had left quite morbid really when you think about it. I suppose everyone wants some kind of control this was Juliet's way of trying to gain some control back over her own life.

We all walked off the stage to make way for the people on the next scene, my and Edwards arms lightly brushing as we turned. He turned to grin at me before meandering his way over to his friend who were sat at the opposite end of the auditorium, nodded over at one of them who was now himself making his way onto the stage, I think his name was Marcus. I think I must have been stood there for a while, then Alice called me.

"Bella!" I snapped out of my trance and blinked furiously attempting to clear my head. "What are you doing you Muppet?" I just blinked again and shook my head slumping back down in my seat next to Alice who was grinned at me, clearly amused.

Edward Masen would be the death of me.

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**A/N Hope you liked it! **

**Oh and before I forget Edward is Edward Mason and Emmett and Alice are Cullen's I keep forgetting but I've gone back and edited the chapters so the last names are right**. I**'ll update as soon as humanely possible! **

**Oh and I had one person ask me about an Edward point of view, I can't do one of those for the minute otherwise it would reveal to much of the story but there will be one in the future how near of far that is I don't know. Anyway...**

**Tata for now.**

**Monstergirl.**

**:)**


	9. Memories And Break ups

**A/N Not much to say except I'm sorry this took so long, I have had the majority of this written for ages but I couldn't figure out how to end it without hating it... anyway I hope you like it! **

**On with the my show my lovelies**

**Disclaimer: I still need this? Really? Really? Fine, I own nada**

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BPOV

I breathed a sigh of relief as rehearsal ended; I don't think I've ever made so much of a fool of myself in one lesson alone, ever. I kept daydreaming and forgetting to come in with my lines, or coming at completely the wrong time confusing myself and everyone else on stage, Edward had sent me out of whack. After theatre, my next two classes passed without incident including the short break in between. I walked out of my third period English class and walked down the hall seeing a familiar head of jet black head bouncing along in front.

"Alice!" I called out to her; she turned around her eyes searched for me for a second, grinning as they landed on me. She stopped in the hall waiting for me to catch up.

"Come on Bella. Math awaits!" she chirped at she grabbed my elbow pulling me towards out next classroom.

"Yay." I muttered sarcastically.

"Oh c'mon Bella you can do better that that." She nudged me with her elbow. "We get to use our magic freinds..." She teased; I burst out laughing, our math teacher referred to or calculators as our "magic freinds", they where these high tech statistics calculators that could do just about anything with, it tells you everything apart from if it's a boy or a girl! No seriously, I think you can even listen to music on it, though why you need a calculator to do that stuff is beyond me. Our teacher seems to think they're the best thing since sliced bread. As we walked through the door I turned to go to my locker, having left my "magic friend" in my locker, I think our teacher would have an aneurysm if I turned up without it.

"Alice, I need to run to my locker I left my "friend" in there." I called as I hurried down the hall.

"Sure, I'll save you a seat." She called back as I turned the corner, still looking in that direction, I carried on walking only turning when I narrowly missed walking into a wall, I jumped and dodged the wall in surprise. I stopped leaning against the wall with a sigh of relief, I push away from the wall and turned to carry on walking down the hall shaking my head, _only me_. Before I could look up I banged straight into a warm body walking in the opposite direction. I dropped my books and nearly fell, but a hand shot out and grabbed my waist before I could topple over and pulled me too them roughly, making me fall straight into their chest. I placed my hands on their chest and grabbed their shirt to steady myself.

"I'm sorry!" I squeaked, looking up at their face, two amused dark eyes meeting mine, the heat rose in my cheeks. "Jacob!"

"Hey Bella" he chuckled.

"I wasn't watching where I was going then nearly ran into the wall, which would have hurt, so I dodged it, then I ran into you, I really need to pay attention to where I walk, I should come with some kind of warning label." I rambled, getting impossibly redder.

"Its fine, but you really should pay attention to where you walk, it's a good job it was me you walked into and not the wall, I don't think it would have been so forgiving." He grinned, I smiled back nervously. We both fell quiet for a second, I blinked, quickly realising he still had his hands on my waist and I was still holding onto his shirt, he dropped his hands from my waist and I quickly let go of his shirt jumping back, he laughed and bent down picking up the books that were strewn across the floor. I crouched down to help, letting my hair fall as a curtain to hide my face. After we had picked everything up and made sure we had all our own stuff, I went to stand up and thank him, but he apparently had the same idea and stood at the same time I did. Meaning we bumped heads in the most awkward way, luckily, after a few seconds of trying to make sure I could see straight, we both started laughing.

"I think you were right." He laughed sobering up, I looked at him.

"What?"

"You should come with a warning label." He teased grinning; I rolled my eyes but laughed with him elbowing him in the side. "C'mon, we need to get to class." He said motion down the hall.

"I need to go to my locker I left my _friend_ in there." I muttered, He chuckled.

"Sure." He nodded; he turned to leave then turned back "See you in class?"

"Sure." I nodded, mimicking his words. "See you in class." I turned and rush off to my locker making sure not to run into anything or anyone. My heart was beating a little faster than normal, had he always been that tall? Had he always been that good looking? What the hell was wrong with me? For a fleeting moment I wondered what I would say if Jacob asked me to the dance, I shook those thoughts away. Either way I didn't want to go to the dance so there was no point in wasting energy wondering about it. I breathed a sigh of my relief when I reached the class; I snuck in took the seat next to Alice which she had placed her bag on. She looked up from her work with curious eyes.

"What took you so long Bells?" I waved her off pulling out my stats textbook from my bag.

"I'll tell you later." I whispered, as the teacher turned to face us, hitting us with a glare.

"You can't leave me hanging here!" She pouted.

"Let's just say it includes Jacob Black." I murmured, turning indiscreetly to look over at him, he looked up just I turned to him and gave me a grin; I blushed and looked down and away. Alice quirked an eyebrow at me, grinning at me giggling quietly. I elbowed her in the side which only seemed to make her laugh more; I eventually joined in our laughs getting steadily louder until the whole class had turned our way. We both seemed to slowly sober up, but only after we had captured the entire classes attention, including the teacher's, who was looking at us over her thin gold rimmed glasses.

"Are you two quite done now?"

"Yes Miss."

"Sorry Mrs. Spencer." Alice muttered trying to contain her snickers again, if she started again there was no way I'd be able to stop.

"Good, now get to the problems on the board, they're not too difficult, remember; you have your magic friends to do most of the work." She grinned conspiratorially. Maths dragged on. Not that that's any different from normal, Alice and I did manage to stop laughing, well, eventually anyway. Even after our giggles had subsided I still couldn't concentrate, my stomach had decided to protest, loudly. I hadn't eaten anything this morning and there was only thirty minutes until the class ended. I stared at the clock, willing the hand to move, it didn't. It only seemed to go slower as if trying to add dramatic effect, all thoughts of even attempting the stats problem had gone out of the window.

My leg bounced under the table erratically, Alice muttered something unintelligible under her breath. This didn't deter my leg from bouncing faster, I heard Alice huff in annoyance, then quickly clamp her hand down on my leg.

"Quit it." She whispered. "The table is vibrating, and not in a good way."

"Sorry." I laughed quietly, biting my lip, only Alice. She moved her hand off my leg, shooting me another look. I just rolled my eyes. I moved my gaze back to clock, which seemed to have only moved on five minutes forward. The obnoxious ticking had got seemingly louder making me grind my teeth. I fidgeted my legs which were starting to ache through the effort of trying to keep them still. At this moment, my empty stomach decided to make itself known once again. I groaned inwardly, and apparently outwardly too as Mrs Spencer looked up from her paperwork.

"Is everything okay, Miss. Swan?" She asked tersely. I blinked, and wracked my brain for an excuse.

"Just having some trouble with a problem." I shrugged and smiled innocently. Alice snorted delicately from beside me. Mrs Spencer raised a brow, sighed, then stood up.

"Let me see if I can give you a hand." She sighed, and knelt down to start instructing me on the usage of my calculator and the normal distribution of the weight of chocolate. My stomach growled. The teacher looked up at me and blinked at me in surprise.

"Sorry." I muttered sheepishly. "I missed breakfast." She nodded and began to read out the question.

She carried on talking, my eyes flickering back to the clock. Ten more minutes. I hummed and nodded along as appropriate when the situation called for it, all the while keeping my eyes on the clock as it moved, excruciatingly slowly, until it reached twelve. I breathed an audible sigh of relief. The teacher was startled at my sudden eagerness to leave the classroom.

"So you understand it now?" She asked as I stuffed my books in my bag, fumbling with my textbook.

"Yes, thanks Miss." I called hurrying after Alice who was stood at the door I grabbed onto her arm and pulled her out of the room and down the corridor. "Thank god!" I sighed, blowing out a huge breath, the tension melting from my body.

My stomach growled not letting me forget its presence; I patted my stomach and sighed. "I know, trust me, I know." We grabbed some food from the counter steering clear of the hot food and making a beeline for the pre-packaged sandwiches, we when paid we stopped in front of the counter to scout out the others. I scanned the room until my eyes rested on Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie, who were all seated at the back of the room deep in conversation. I scanned the rest of the room my eyes landing unconsciously on Edward's table.

I watched him as he spoke with his friends a smile on his face, he leaned back in his chair said something then looked to the ceiling seeming sort of distracted. I frowned, it seemed kind of strange, I didn't know him well, but I knew him well enough and I knew people's body language to know something was bothering him. He couldn't seem to focus on one thing and couldn't focus on the conversation for long only giving half hearted responses. I looked away and shook my head, for all I knew he could just be having an off day, problem with some work or something, I was probably reading too much into things.

I let my eyes roam again this time they landed on Jacob, he was also sat leaning back in his chair, but his posture gave off a feeling of calmness and relaxation, completely opposite to Edward. He had a wide grin on his face, bark out a laugh at something his friend said, I think his name is Seth Clearwater; he's in our math class, the one Jacob sits next to. Alice nudged me breaking my staring as I looked over at her.

"C'mon!" I blinked and carried on walking towards the others, were Emmett had looked up and was now waving us over, I laughed at his enthusiasm as he grinned like a small child getting his favourite toy. When we reached the table, we placed our trays down that we had piled with food earlier, Alice took a seat next to Jasper, his arm slipped round her waist as she sat down.

"Hey." He murmured as he kissed the sided of her head, Alice smiled up at him and leant into her side, taking a potato chip from her plate and popped it into her mouth. I popped open my sandwich, and took a bite, I hummed and my stomach rumbled with satisfaction. I made light work of my sandwich and moved to the Hershey's bar I had picked up at the counter, a chocolate craving coming over me. I sliced open the foil and snapped of the end popping the piece into my mouth letting it slowly melt on my tongue.

I absentmindedly let my eyes wander again but this time I wasn't the only one, I looked over to Edward again, I hadn't meant to look over there in fact I had been trying to avoid it, my surprisingly when I looked over my eyes met his eyes. I held his gaze steadily; he smiled at me his left side pulling up slightly higher than his right. I smiled back, recapturing my lip between my teeth. He raised his hand in a silent greeting; I nodded back raising my hand, his grin widened. At the same time his friends turned to see what he was looking at all turning to look at me, I chewed on lip hard and looked away flushing.

I fixed my gaze down to the table and popped another square of chocolate in my mouth, I felt kind of like a creeper for staring at him, but I suppose if he caught me looking that meant he had to be looking at me too. Which I just can't understand. I look back to find him still watching me, he wasn't looking at me in a creepy way, or like he was checking me out, he was almost looking without looking. It was nice, but, kind of strange. Something moved out of the corner of my eye, I turned slightly to face it and watched as Lauren Mallory strode over to Edward, a fierce look of determination on her face. I knew I should have looked away, but Edward still hadn't notice her walking towards him, I motioned to his right with my eyes, and like he understood what I was getting at he turned and saw Lauren walking towards him. His eye brows shot up into his hair line.

She called out to him; he fully turned her way, seeming reluctant to turn away from me. She seemed annoyed about something; Edward just appeared to be confused at first, which morphed into incredulity, then into understanding, Lauren seemed really angry. Wildly gesturing in my general direction, people who were close by turned in this direction, but as expected, their eyes glossed over me. It wasn't as if everyone knew about the fact we were starring in the play with each other and other than that people had no reason to associate me with Edward Cullen. Even so, I had a certain sick feeling it was me that they were arguing over.

I couldn't hear much of their conversation, just enough to know what was going on, they seemed to have captured a lot of attention. Without warning, as the next words were spoken, the whole room fell silent and the words where heard as clear as day.

"Lauren. Were done."

Edward never looked up at her he kept his head down and turned away from her, for a second her jaw went slacked, then the quickly corrected it blinking, close her mouth the turned and strode out of the room, with an almost smug expression on her face. Everyone's eyes were on her watching as the strode out the room her chin held high, the cafeteria door slammed as she left the room. A flurry of voices sound broke the silence, scandalized whispers filling the room.

"Oh my god, I can't believe it."

"They've been together for so long!"

"Do you think I have a chance with him now?"

"What do you think happened?"

Why could people just mind their own business for a change? Thinking about it; I was a huge hypocrite, I was dying to know what was going on, maybe that was why Edward was acting strange today. It might have something to do with what is saw a few days ago things looked kind of tense between them then. I ran my fingers through my hair, why did I care so much? I shouldn't care; at least, I didn't want to care. There was just something about him, about Edward; he wasn't at all how I had thought, he was different very different. Why couldn't he have just been conceited the way I thought he was, it would save me from all these thoughts. I sighed to myself.

"Thinking again Bella?" Emmett teased as I looked up rolling my eyes at him shoving another two chunks of chocolate in my mouth, nothing like a bit of chocolate therapy to calm the nerves. I looked around the table none of them seemed surprised or bothered by this sudden development. It was nice. "You're gonna hurt yourselves one of these days doing all this thinking." I stuck out my tongue. "Nice Bella, such a lady."

"Since when have I ever been a lady?" I asked incredulously.

"That's true." Jasper nodded thought fully laughing quietly at something. "You always find some kind of mud to get on the dresses mom and dad would buy you when we were little." He smiled fondly at the memories; Rosalie laughed loudly, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Neither of them would get mad though, well apart from the time they threatened to ship you off to finishing school." She smiled softly, I laughed remembering that day.

"I remember, we were all about 5 at the time and Mom and Dad had just bought me and Rose new sun dresses, and Jasper a shirt and expensive jeans, it was one of the few times we had gone over to the reservation. Billy had invited us down to have a barbecue on the beach." I reminisced it seemed like all this wasn't so long ago, Jasper barked out a laugh and shook his head.

"You were annoyed because Mom wouldn't let you go play with the boys, down in the sand in the rock pools, she wouldn't let go of your hand, so you, being you just ran like a bull in a china shop straight towards the rock pools slipped and got sand, mud and water all over your dress." Jasper leant back in his seat his whole body shaking with laughter. "I had to go and get you out cause Rosie didn't want to get her shoes wet, you hadn't hurt yourself, just scraped up your hands a little, but when you had to walk back up the beach dripping with water, you kept complaining about having sand in your pants."

"Mom was not happy when you went back to her, when you said that to her, she just told you to suck it up cause you weren't going to change and you have to stay that way for the rest of the night, mom walked away, but you weren't having any of it so you just decided to strip off all of your clothes in the middle of the beach." Rose clutched her stomach as she laughed, my cheeks turned red, I think I must have blocked that part out, everyone round the table was laughing now, at my expense I might add. "Those boys sure did get an eyeful, I think you may have changed they views on girls forever."

"Wow Bella, I never knew exhibitionism was your style." Emmett mocked, I shot him a glare.

"Mom had kittens when she saw you stood there with your dress and pants on a pile on the floor, I think Dad may have had a heart attack, especially with all those boys around, they both threatened to send you away to finishing school if you didn't put your clothes back on, well, I don't think anyone could put their clothes on faster than you did then." Rose teased leaning her head down onto Emmett's shoulder.

"Well, frankly, the idea of having to learn how to use cutlery, speak properly, that would be my own personal hell." I smirked, shoving the last piece of chocolate in my mouth frowning at the empty wrapper I screwed it up into a ball and rolled it between my hands.

"Being a bit stereotypical aren't we Bella." Alice laughed, I just grinned shrugging, she smiled softly. "Your mom was awesome."

"Yeah she was." Emmett grinned, he squeezed Rose's hand. "She always used to give us cookies whenever we would come over, she always seemed to know what was going on, whether we wanted her to or not." He chuckled softly, Mom had always had a sixth sense, whether we were sick, upset or we were lying about something, she had been there for all of us at some point or another she saw Emmett and Alice as her honorary kids.

"I went to see her last week." I murmured looking down at the table, still passing the ball of foil between my hands.

"Bella!" Rose leaned across the table knocking the ball from my hands and grabbed my hand. "Why, Bells? I would have gone with you, Jazz would have gone with you, you didn't need to go alone!" she scolded me softly, squeezing my fingers.

"I just needed to clear my head, I s'pose." I shrugged; I squeezed her fingers back them with my free hand reached for the foil ball and tugged at one of the loose ends. "I- I just, I don't know, I just, really miss her sometimes you know?" They all nodded their heads, looked at me with soft eyes, I knew they didn't pity me, or feel sorry for me, they just understood, but I knew just by looking and Rose and Alice they knew something else was going on too. Even Jasper was frowning, he had even less of a clue as to what was going on, but he was still my brother, idiot he may be sometimes. He had always been able to sense people's emotions easily; he could read just about anyone. He had gotten that trait from mom.

Renee wasn't perfect; she was far from it, but she was an amazing mother. She worked for a business firm in Seattle, I think it may have been a publishing company; I didn't pay much attention to stuff back then. Now I really wish I had. She was very impulsive, flighty; she was always changing her hair style trying out new styles, eager to decorate the house whenever it took her fancy. Which it tended to often, we'd come home, quite often when she got out of work early, we'd find her painting or putting up a picture she had bought that she thought would go great with the room. She had a tendency to be stubborn, like me I suppose, when she made her mind up, it wouldn't be changed.

The bell rang above our heads, cutting my musings short, I my slung my bag over my shoulder, we walked in a comfortable silence to next class, my last class was world history, which was okay to be fair, I just didn't like the thought of having to stay after school again to rehearse with Edward. Especially now, after the embarrassing display the other day, not to mention this morning! I sighed and broke off from the group with a smile and a wave. Alice called out to me before I could enter the classroom.

"Bella!" I turned; she had a wide grin across her face. "You still need to fill me in about this morning don't forget, I also want details of your rehearsal tonight!" she winked at me; I just rolled my eyes and waved her off walking into the classroom.

* * *

**A/N Hope you liked my lovelies! So sneak peeks for reviewers as normal :D ! **

**Firstly a huge and I mean massive thanks to Angel my beta who turned this out in less than an hour, especially since I forgot to put a shout out last chapter! And huge thanks to all readers reviewers favoriters and alerters it does mean a great deal to me you have no idea : )**

**Second has anyone seen Tangled yet? Wasn't it great? It was so sweet, I can't help it, I have a soft spot for Disney films, I don't care how old I am! You're only as old as you feel right? I really should blame Disney for ruining my perception of men... turns out my prince charming was an idiot in tinfoil *sigh* well what are you gonna do eh?**

**And lastly I have the next chapter planned out so all fingers crossed it should be done faster than this one!**

**Much love to all**

**Monstergirl **

**X**


	10. Romeo On A Motorbike

**A/N Heyy guys! I'm going to forgo the long authors not here and just get on with the chapter ill explain at the end, So this is extra long because I love you guys and I honestly didn't want to take this long, anyway here it is! **

**Disclaimer: Me no own! I can't say it any simpler than that :D and everyone was too lazy to help me with the disclaimer today so what can you do? **

**Shout outs to all favoriters, alerters, reviewers and readers, yes that means you! Thank you so much!**

**On with the show!**

**UPDATE: Now Beta'd**

BPOV

Perfect!" Ms. Murphy clapped her hands together excitedly as I said my final lines and we finished the scene. "Just perfect you two! I think we can end today's rehearsal a little early." She grinned broadly at the two of us. I breathed a sigh of relief, I needed to get away from Edward for a while, he was doing all kinds of things to me. Making me do all kinds of things, acting ten times more strange than I normally do. I knew I was physically attracted to him I had known that for a while, but now, it was beginning to feel like something more, he was making me swoon.

I looked over at Ms. Murphy and gave her a tight smile as I walked of the stage, picking up all my things, then darted for the door.

"Hang on!" I froze my hand dropped from the door and turned to Ms. Murphy, who was waving me back over to her and Edward who was stood next to her looking at me from under his lashes and some hair that had fell in his eyes. Honestly? He looked adorable, my heart picked up speed, beating faster than a hummingbird's wings. My head told my heart to stop, but it wouldn't, actually, it was more like it couldn't. I swallowed pushing my hand through my hair and tugged on my jacket as I walked towards the two who were already talking.

"Ah Bella." She gave me a smiled as I came to a stop at her side. "I've just filled Edward in, I'm not going to be here tomorrow afternoon, I have to attend a family function –"

"So there's no extra rehearsal tomorrow?" I asked hopefully, cutting her off mid sentence.

"Not quite." She said looking at me, all hope I had leaving quickly. "I still need you and Edward to run lines together, for both your paired scenes and if you could run through your monologues too that are more tricky to learn, so I need you and Edward to meet outside of school or you could still come into here if you wanted the slot is still ours, I just won't be here with you."

"Oh okay." I nodded.

"Alright? Good. " She smiled. "So all you need to do now is sort that out between the two of you before tomorrow, I'll see the both of you in two days and I want you to both have the second half of the balcony scene rehearsed." She sent a smile to both of us as she walked away to the back of the room to pick up her own bag and coat. I hoisted my bag higher on shoulder awkwardly and looked over to Edward.

"I'll, ah, meet you outside." I nodded at Edward; he smiled at me and nodded before turning to retrieve his bag from one of the seats. I shuffled out of the room, taking a deep breath as I walked out of the front doors and walked across the lot to Edward's bike. The black bike was leaning up against its kick stand at the far end of the lot on its own; it was normally accompanied by two other more modern models that belong to two of Edward's friends, Marcus and Victoria. The lot was almost empty apart from the few cars of the teachers that had decided to stay late.

I looked back at his bike, it was even more impressive up close, the black and silver paint job made it look sleek and amazing to ride, I reached out and let my fifers brush against the sleek body. A smile stretched itself across my face of its own accord as I imagined what it would be like to ride on it, wind kissing my face and blowing through my hair, and the speed, god the speed. A chuckle came from behind me making me jump. I turned to see a grinning Edward stood behind me, his bag slung over one shoulder and his helmet tucked under his arm.

"It rides like a dream." He said as if reading my mind, I dropped my hand from the bike.

"I can imagine." I smiled, letting my gaze travel back along the bike.

"You ever ridden on a bike before?" He asked tilting his head to the side.

"Only once, it was amazing, it was on the back of one of the bikes my sister restored, our Dad made us sell it once she'd finished doing it up." I shook my head, thinking back, Rosalie was so pissed off it had taken her hours to restore it; I looked back up at Edward and placed my hand on the bike brushing my fingers across it. "I've never ridden anything like this though,"

"Maybe I could take you out on it sometime." He smiled up at me, his lips pulled up higher on the one side than the other. Was he serious? Maybe, but he most probably wouldn't follow through with it was probably one of those things people say like, we'll have to go see that movie sometime and you never do.

"Maybe." I murmured giving him a softy smile "So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" I asked.

"I was thinking maybe we could go to mine, or yours, and do the rehearsing there, I really don't want to have to spend more time in this place than I have to." He grinned cheekily leaning opposite me against the bike.

"I agree fully." I nodded full-heartedly. "We can just meet by your bike after class, then decide whose house we'll go to."

"Sure." He nodded smiling; he pushed of the bike and stuck his bag in the box at the back of his bike and slid his helmet on, he turned back to me and I could see his smile through the tinted visor. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." I nodded smiling at him; he gave me one last nod of the head before he climbed on his bike and revved the engine, kicking away the kick stand before I turned hoisting my bag higher on my shoulder as it slipped. I jogged over to my car a climbed in, driving out of the lot I took one last look over at Edward who was just ahead, he raised his hand in a silent goodbye then peeled out of the gates. I leant back in my seat for a second trying to gather my thoughts, then leant forward and drove out heading for home.

As expected when I got home I was bombarded with questions, Alice and Rose dragged me to my room and Jasper and Emmett (I did tell you they practically lived with us) both went up and sulked in Jasper's room when their girlfriends left them and they weren't allowed to join in the conversation. I told them all the details about what had happened, with Jacob, then the _rehearsal, _then the plans for tomorrow, I skipped the part about where he said he might take me on his bike sometime, knowing then would read way too much into it.

After a few hours Alice and Emmett left to go home and the rest of us like the party animals we are went to bed. I fell asleep almost virtually as my head hit the pillow, it was probably the most restful sleep I'd had in a while. The next morning came way too quickly, I felt rested, sure, but who wants to wake up at an ungodly hour in the morning? I rolled out of bed reluctantly, after Charlie threatened to drive me to school in the cruiser, with the lights going.

"I'm up, I'm awake." I sat up blinking. "Sort of." Charlie left for work shortly after, shouting a gruff I'll be home later up the stairs to everyone, and something to soft for me to hear. After going through all my morning ministrations, taking slightly longer than usual to choose my outfit, in the end I lost my temper and just threw on my jeans and a tee shirt with a nice jacket over the top. I sent a look over too my dresser as I went to walk out of my room to where my copy of Romeo and Juliet was sitting. I hesitated then quickly grabbed it off the side and placed in my bag running my fingers along the spine then zipped up my bag and dashing out my room.

I jumped down the stairs, bag in hand, and rushed into the kitchen to grab some toast before I had to leave. Rose was sat on a stool at the counter top eat a bowl of cereal, she looked up with a smile, yawning delicately, as I pressed down a couple of pieces of bread into the toaster.

"Morning." She greeted.

"Morning." I smiled, grabbing the butter out of the fridge walking over to lean next to Rose on the counter, waiting for the toast to pop, turning to look at it every thirty seconds, I turned back to Rose. "What are the car arrangements for today?" I asked, knowing it was best if I didn't drive knowing I most probably wouldn't be able to drive back. Just as I asked Jasper walked in with a lazy grin on his face.

"I don't think you need to worry about the car for today." Rose replied with a half smirk, Jasper smiled, ruffling my hair as he walked passed, grabbing one of the pieces of toast , that had popped up, I rolled my eyes and snacked him on the back of the head as he grabbed another knife, buttering _my_ toast.

"You are such a pain sometimes." I huffed, straightening my hair and buttering my own piece of toast, then I frowned looking over to Rose. "Wait, what do you mean?" Rose turned to me and cocked her head to the side and smiled.

"Ah you'll see." She looked over at Jasper "I think my cars all out of gas so were going to need to take Bellas truck." She took one last bite of cereal and tossed her bowl in the sink.

"Sure." Jasper shrugged. "But what about Bella?" He mumbled through a mouthful of food. I took a few more bites of food watching Rose carefully, wanting to know the answer to this myself.

"First, don't eat with your mouth full, second she'll be fine." She sent him a look silencing him when he went to say something else. "Just trust me would you? You'll see in a minute." I stood there blinking utterly confused, I took a couple more bites of toast finishing it and sucking the butter of my fingers. Frowning when I was done, I was still hungry. _Jasper_.

"Whatever you say" He muttered, tossing his knife in the sink along with Rose's bowl and the butter in the fridge. "Shall we go then?" I still didn't move from my spot, trying to process this, where they just going to leave me stranded?

"See you later Bells" Jasper said, ruffling my hair again as he passed by me, I sighed, flattening my hair down with my hand, running my hands through it.

"Sure, I might see you at school." I muttered sarcastically. "That is if I get there today." Rosalie just rolled her eyes at me and wrapped me in a hug.

"Trust me; you'll be perfectly fine, maybe even more than that." She smirked, then frowned, "Take care of yourself." She squeezed me tighter, the let go and hurried after Jasper, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "See you later, I expect details." She called out over her shoulder, I rolled my eyes. "About _everything_!" I frowned; I think she may have officially lost it.

"Sure, see you." The door shut behind her and I could hear her and Jasper start to argue over something outside, Jasper didn't sound too happy about it, whatever _it_ was. Rose sounded like she was trying to convince him of something, she sounded partly amused, but also part serious herself, after two or three more minutes I heard Jasper sigh. Their footsteps faded until I couldn't hear them anymore. _Great now what am I supposed to do?_

I grabbed Rose's car keys off the key holder, might as well check if there's enough gas in it to get me too school. Getting home, well that's another thing; I grabbed my bag of the kitchen counter, cursing as I caught the time, rushing out the door, locking it behind me. I turned around to head to the car and froze. At the end of the drive, Edward was leant up against his bike, leather jacket open and his helmet on the seat behind him, a second helmet was perched on the handle bars.

"Edward?" I blinked, he was still there. He walked forward and held his helmet out to me the other hand stuck in his pocket his mouth pulled up in an uneven smile.

"Still want that ride?" He asked, as I took the helmet from his hands, I nodded not quite feeling all there, he nodded his smile widening, walking pack to his bike and climbing on he looked back at me, I walked next to the bike, blinking, looking from Edward to the bike and back again. I was utterly speechless, he grabbed his helmet and pulled it on I followed suit; he reached out and grabbed my bag placing it with his in the box on the back. I climbed on the back holding his arm to steady myself as I climbed on placing my hands tentatively on his waist. I heard him laugh as him took my hands in his and pulled them fully around his waist.

"Hold on tight." He chuckled, sounding muffled through the helmet. At that moment I was so glad he couldn't see me, I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks when he moved my arms around him. He started the bike it rumbling beneath us, the engine purring as we tore off the driveway and down the road. The air was blowing straight through the lengths of my hair; I smiled exuberantly, my arms tightening around Edward's waist without thinking. My heart raced as the bike sped up, it felt like it was going so much faster than it actually was.

We slowed to a stop at a red light, next to a flashy black BMW. I peered into the window seeing Mike and Eric in the front seat apprising the two of us. Cockily they revved there engine creep forward an inch, Edward followed suit revving the bike engine creeping forward slightly so he was in line with them, it carried on like this until the light when green and Edward accelerated off taking them by surprise. We drove off leaving them behind, I turned and saw both with mouths open pissed off looks on their faces. I burst out laughing my shoulders shaking gripping Edward's waist tighter not being able to contain the laughs, my whole body shaking, for a second he stiffened, then his whole started to shake along with mine. I could feel his laughter, literally.

It didn't take us long to reach the school parking lot after that we pulled in and Edward parked up in his normal spot at the far end in the lot between the two other bikes. We were both still laughing as we climbed off. I pulled of my helmet and shook out my hair, running my fingers through the ends trying to tame the ends. I looked up at Edward who was grinning down at me, holding out my bag in his hand. "Did you see their faces?" He laughed shaking his head; I nodded laughing, taking my bag from his hands and hoisting it on my shoulder.

"You know I think he might be over compensating for something." I grinned, Edward frowned his eyebrows slowly rising as he figured it out, he's laughter was loud and free, I joined him. We had finally sobered up when Mike pulled up into the lot and caught our eyes, surprise flashing across his features as he looked between the two of us. At that we both started laughing again, leaning on each other for support, I looked up at his face quickly sobering up a blush flooding my cheeks, his hair was windswept his eyes bright, the light laughing.

"So Bella?" He smiled down at me.

"Edward?" I smiled softly, feeling suddenly a lot warmer.

"Were on for tonight right?"He asked, I nodded, not quite able to find any words just yet.

"Great, so if we meet back here as planned, we can go back to mine, my parents won't be there so we'll have some privacy."

"Sure, Rose, Jasper, Emmett, and Alice are all going to be at mine tonight so it would be pretty hopeless to go there if we want to rehearse in private." I shook my head thinking about how well that would go. It was like living with a bunch of seven year olds sometimes, most of the time my mental age was just as low as theirs, so it worked.

"Grace's out tonight too it's her night off so she visits friends who live close by" Edward paused a slow grin making its way across his face. "She sometimes comes back early, but the two of you have already met and she obviously liked you, even with the crazy clothing choices, although your slippers were..." He paused looking for the right word. "Unique, we have some pretty efficient heating too so being _cold _shouldn't be a problem." He chuckled; I groaned and placed my head in my hands, peaking through my fingers.

"I'm never going to live that down am I?"

"Not a chance." He laughed."Although I prefer a girl who doesn't take herself too seriously." He grinned, I smiled back, I opened my mouth to retort, but the bell for first class rang cutting me off. It was only then when I turned around that I noticed how many people were turned in our direction. My eyes swept over the crowd, on the other side of the lot Jasper stood with Alice, Rose and Emmett appraising Edward with hard eyes, Alice sent me a smile, Emmett just quirked an eyebrow and Rose had a hesitant smirk on her face.

I looked away, on the opposite end of the lot stood Lauren, Mike, Jessica, Jane and some other of Laurens friends, all giving me _that_ look. You know that look that says _what do you think you're doing? He is so out of you league, we are so much better than you_. Well, all apart from Jane who looked like she was fighting back a smile, then so quick I didn't know whether it really happened, she winked at me. My eyes widened for a fraction of a second, then I turned away.

"Just ignore them, I do, I personally think there like that because they have their heads stuck too far up there asses." He grinned cheekily; I was surprised at how casually he could talk about his ex-girlfriend and her friends like that. "But that's just me." I just nodded biting back a laugh; we made our way inside splitting up when we got inside. I let my legs carry me there, deep in thought, trying to process everything; it just didn't quite feel right. I shook it off and took the day as it came still receiving looks from people throughout the day. I stayed in the library at lunch; I didn't want the tenth degree from everyone when I still had so many questions to get my own head around. The end of the day bell came quickly; I hurried back out to Edward's bike avoiding talking to Alice, who had just been in my class.

"Bella!" I turned, Edward jogged up to me grinning. "You ready?" I nodded.

"You have no idea." He looked at me cocking his head to one side passing me the spare helmet.

"Bad day?" He asked, taking my bag and placing in the box at the back with his, I shrugged.

"Ah, something like that." I answered, being intentionally vague, not quite ready to unleash the inner workings of my mind on him all unsuspecting. He just quirked an eyebrow and pulled his helmet on his head.

"C'mon trouble." I smiled, pulling on the other helmet and awkward slinging my leg over the bike, tentatively wrapping my arms around his waist still unsure. His muscle flexed under her touched and he revved the bike a sped off, for the second time that day she felt completely free. She closed her eyes, feeling the sensations of the wind, the speed and the warmth of Edward's body up against hers and sighed contentedly. After about ten minutes the turned down a long winding road, turning off halfway up speeding up a long mud track, tall trees lining the edges of the road leading to a large house.

It had a classic yet modern feel to it, a large double door in front, long stunningly red curtains hanging in each window. It climbed the walls around the windows and doors, it was without a doubt, one of the most stunning houses I have ever seen and this was just the outside. We rumbled to a stop on the drive, gravel crunching under the tires. I climbed off, reluctantly unwrapping my arms from his waist, pulling off the helmet I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Your house is amazing." I breathed, looking up at it, in awe, He grabbed our bags from the bike and tossed me mine, looking over at me a sarcastic smile playing on his lips.

He snorted, "I s'pose."

I turned to him. "What?" He looked up at me and shook his head.

"It's just harder to see it that way for me." He sighed running a hand through his hair tugging at it; I looked at him, but didn't ask the question on the tip of tongue knowing it was a definite red flag.

"Okay, it's still stunning, I don't think I've seen another house like it, I mean size wise sure, but the design, it's truly amazing." I looked over at him smiling a small crease formed between his eyebrows.

"Yeah, Esme Cullen designed it." He murmured, we started to walk up to the double door.

"Alice and Emmett's mom Esme?" Esme Cullen was like a surrogate mother to me, my mom and Esme had been best friends when she was alive, Esme ran an interior design business that sometimes took her overseas, it was a small business but Esme's designs had gotten popular over the years and the business expanded. Apart from their house I'd never really seen any of her work first hand, looking at it now there was no doubt in my mind about why she was so popular.

"Yeah, I think so; she did this a while back, when we were all babies." He said guiding me to through the front door. We walked into a large hallway opposite a large wooden staircase. He placed his hand on the small of my back and pushed me gently towards and up the stairs.

"C'mon we can go to my room to rehearse; I left my copy of the script up there."

"Sure." My interest was piqued, I wonder what Mr Populars' room looks like, the thought of being in his room in the vicinity of a bed made me flush, my mind wondering a little too far south. I shook those thoughts away; he pulled me through a door near the end of the hall. It was completely different from what I had expected, on the far wall there were rows and rows of books and CD's lining the wall. I walked towards the shelves' even more surprised when I read some of the titles. Tolstoy, Bronte, Turgenev, Carroll, Dickens, Hardy, Shakespeare, Wilde and some many more I couldn't count there was even a collection of Steven King novels tucked in with the more modern selection. The music was ranging from classic rock, Guns n' Roses, Led Zeppelin to the more modern rock bands like Linkin Park.

"This is absolutely amazing, who knew Mr Popular was so well read." I laughed astonished, his lips quirked up into a half smile.

"I don't know whether or not I should be offended by that." He chuckled.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that it's just I didn't see you as a Tolstoy fan." I rambled.

"I like the Russians as much as the next guy." He grinned, he walked over to a desk in the far corner of his room which was littered with a few papers, and grabbed his script, I stood awkwardly in front on the wide double bed were Edward had taken a seat, he patted the stop beside him and grinned cheekily. "Sit."

"I'm not a dog, and I'm fine here thanks." I muttered, he laughed.

"Come on, I don't bite." He grinned wide, I could feel myself blushing. _What if I want you too?_ I blinked; I cannot believe I just thought that. He motioned me over again this time I went sitting hesitantly on the edge of the bed. We sat awkwardly for a minute or so before he spoke up.

"So, you must be excited about the dance."

"No." I snorted, shaking my head.

"Why not? I thought girls were really into that sort of crap." He smirked. Leaning back on to two hands.

"Well, not me." I shrugged, looking back at him.

"Huh." He looked at me, his mouth still pulled up in a smirk nodding his head.

"What?" I looked at him.

"Nothing." He smiled a little more genuinely this time. "Just, nothing."

"It can't be nothing; otherwise you wouldn't have said anything."

"No, really, it's just; it doesn't surprise me as much as it probably should." He said, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

"Why?" I asked, intrigued, not that I didn't already know I was an open book, but all the same, Edward didn't really know me.

"You don't strike me as that kind of girl, you never really have." He murmured leaning forward.

"That kind of girl?" I teased, he rolled his eyes, I knew what he meant but I wanted to see what his definition would be.

"You know; the kind that thinks it's the end of the world when she breaks a nail." He chuckled; I laughed along with him then shrugged.

"Breaking a nail can hurt like a bitch, but it's far from the end of the world." I laughed; Edward leaned back in his chair and smiled, tilting his head to the side in silent thought.

"It's strange you would think all this would surprise me, but for some reason, it really doesn't."

He said almost in thought, I don't know quite what was going through my head, I wasn't surprised at his epiphany, because as I said before I know I'm not all that hard to read, but it was still strange to be told so bluntly, by Edward no less.

"I can't say the same about you." I admitted, cocking my head to one side mimicking his pose.

"Really?" Both his brows rose up in obvious surprise.

"Sure." I shrugged, leaning forward to rest my elbows on my lap, resting my chin on my hand.

"You don't seem to care or flaunt the fact you have a lot of money, you have amazing taste in books and music, you go shopping with your maid..." I trailed off, looking him straight in the eye. "I just can't seem to figure you out." I murmured my voice quiet; his face broke out into a wide grin.

"What can I say? I'm a very complex guy." He teased, chuckling, then his gaze softened. "I guess even though I've grown up around money, it's never really made me all that comfortable, take Grace for example; she's like family and yet she cooks and cleans for us, I just don't feel comfortable letting her pick up after me. She might be the closest family I have" He blinked, then smiled at me sheepishly as if maybe he had said more than he had intended to. I smiled; placing a hand on his forearm I gave it a tentative squeeze. There was so much about Edward I didn't understand, something inexplicable made me want to understand.

"Anyway enough of the heavy. What about you?" I asked.

"What about me?" He frowned confused.

"Will you, Mr Popular, be going to the dance?" I grinned. "I mean it's a Shakespearian theme so you may even get to wear some tights." I teased, he grinned letting out a laugh.

"Yeah, as tempting as that sounds, I honestly don't know, why? Is this you asking me out?" He grinned cheekily.

"Nope, this is me wondering." I shrugged. "Why? Don't you have a date already?" A sardonic smile stretched across his face, my eyes widened as I realised what I said."Oh god sorry of course you don't." I slapped my hand across my mouth to stop the words from spilling out.

"Sorry." I mumbled from behind my hand.

He chuckled, "its okay." He looked at me. "Honestly."

"You seem so fine about this; you don't seem to be effected at all by your break up with Lauren." I pointed out, worried for a second that I might have crossed the line but he merely smiled shaking his head, then looked me straight in the eyes.

"Can I tell you the truth?" I nodded.

"I was only going out with her to annoy my parents." He laughed, well that was totally unexpected, they had always seemed, well not close, but genuine, in a way. I suppose it makes sense, even more now I know more about Edward. They are complete opposites.

"Wow." I couldn't come up with any other words.

"Yeah, wow, makes me seem like a total ass right?" he looked away, then back running a hand over his face.

"Just a little." I smiled, fiddling with the pages of my book.

"What's that?" He asked motioning his chin towards the book in my lap.

"Romeo and Juliet." I answered, lifting it up to show the title on the front in gold script.

"You have your own copy?" I smiled and nodded, he held out his hand tentatively, looking at me, "May I?" I hesitated, then placed it into his out stretched hand.

"Careful I murmured, watching him carefully as he ran his fingers down the spine, he opened the front cover and cocked his head as he read, what I'm guessing, is the message inside the front cover.

"Your mum gave you this?" a soft smile tugged at his lips.

"Yeah, she did." My voice barely a whisper, he didn't ask anything else, even though I could tell he wanted too, he simply nodded in silent understanding.

"Anyway, shall we?" he asked shaking his script.

I nodded, "We shall."

We worked our way through our scenes, he would look over at me every so often from under his lashes, his lips pulled up slightly more on one side, making me lose concentration every now and again. He had this effect on me; I was sure whether or not I liked it just yet. After a couple of hours we called it a night, during this time we had shifted from the edge of the bed to being sprawled across the centre only inches away from each other. I closed my book lying on my back looking up at his ceiling. "I am absolutely exhausted." I smiled, stretching then pushing up to sit crossed legged in front of Edward. He grinned, and pushed himself up sitting in the same position opposite me.

"Me too, I don't think I can handle any more Shakespeare." He looked at me, I could feel the tension in the air, I moved forward slightly almost unconsciously, he did the same. I blinked, and looked away I pushed my hand backwards feeling for my book to close it, I grabbed and turned to quickly, the book slid off the bed and I fell backwards trying to catch it. Quickly Edward's arms shot out, grabbing me and pulling me forward, toppling backwards as he lost balance pulling me with him. I landed on top of his body, it was warm inviting, if I'm totally honest I could have stayed there quite happily, I gasped softly meeting his eyes our faces inches apart.

Slowly we both began to move unconsciously forward until our lips were a mere centimetre a part noses almost brushing.

"Edward!" A female voice carried up the stairs. We both blinked I quickly scrambled off his body and the bed picking up my book. I could tell my face was flushed without even looking into a mirror. Edward just looked at me his head tilted to the side and shook his head. Did we? Did he? Would we have? No, no way.

"I'm upstairs mom!" His mom? Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, why? I don't know, were not together, were only rehearsing, why should I care about his mom and what she thinks of me? He turned back to me. "C'mon, I'll take you home." He smiled, the tension in the room slowly disappearing. "We can take the bike again." I perked up at this and smiled back nodding.

"Sure, I just need to put this." I lifted up the book. "Into my bag, then I'm ready to go." I turned and placed Romeo and Juliet into my bag, zipping it up and tossing over my shoulder, placing my discarded jacket over my arm. I followed Edward out of the room silently, we walked down the stairs, we walked down the hall towards the door. Before we could a tall woman with long dark hair brown and soft green eyes intercepted our path.

"Edward, who might this young lady, be?" she asked smiling; it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Edward sighed. "This is Bella, mom."

"Bella?"

"Yes, we were cast alongside each other in theatre so we have to rehearse together." Edward explained. "I'm taking her home; I brought her here from school." His mother regarded him, silently then nodded looking at me again. Unsure of what to say I simply smiled at her.

"You have a lovely home."

"Thank you Bella." She murmured, sounding surprised standing aside, she looked between the two of us "Okay, don't be home too late." Edward nodded and took my hand pulling me through the door the last thing I noticed was her looking at out intertwined hands with a frown on her face.

"Sorry about that." Edward sighed running his fingers through his hair. "I didn't expect her to be home this early she said she had a late appointment." I squeezed his hand.

"It's fine honestly." I smiled, perplexed at his words, she wasn't quite how I imagined her she seemed to not be too pleased about me being there, I shrugged it off. Edward looked at me gave me a smile and my hand a slight squeeze before dropping it and putting my bag in the box at the back of his bike for safe keeping. He handed me the helmet and pulled his own on we climbed on and sped back off down the drive.

It didn't take long before we reached my house, I got of the bike and thanked him for the ride, he smiled and waved at me as I walked up my drive I waved back watching as he sped away down the road out of sight into the darkness. I turned and walked through the front door, I frowned thinking back, would we have kissed if his mom hadn't turned up? I didn't know. The shrill sound of the ringing phone broke me out of me thoughts, I dived for it on the coffee table before the person had a chance to put the phone down. "Hello?"

"Bella? Good. There's an event I'd like you to attend with me in a couple of weeks time." I pulled back from the phone and stared at it puzzled, I could quite place the voice of the person on the other end, the no nonsense female voice rang in my ear. Then it clicked. Didyme.

"Hey Dida." I greeted smiling.

"Bella." She greeted a smile in her voice. "As I was saying, next month there is a event where all the big publishing companies and their friends get together and boast about this year's big successes, there will be other businesses there, I suppose you could says it's a networking party, I thought that maybe you could come with me since Aro has decided it'd my turn to attend the tedious event, Jane also has no interest in attending one of my work events, but I thought since you wanted to work in the publishing business you could come along with me and see how the business works. Maybe do some networking of your own" She finally paused, that women can talk, sometimes more than Alice. "So, what do you say?"

"Sure, Dida, that sounds great." I said, running a hand through my hair.

"Are you feeling okay Bella?" She asked her voice concerned.

"Yeah, I, Yeah, I've just got a lot on my mind." I confessed.

"Well, honey, I hope you feel better, but right now I have to go Aro is doing the cooking tonight." She sighed. "It's our anniversary, he's trying to be romantic, but it would be so much better if I still had a house and all of my husband, when it comes to business he's great, but cooking, he has no skill what so ever." She said if could practically feel her rolling her eyes.

I laughed. "I know exactly what you mean."

"I'll email you the details, okay; I'll see you soon, Bella."

"Okay, I'll see you soon Dida." I let out a breath and made my way upstairs peeling off my clothes and pulling on some sweats and a black camisole, pulling my hair up out of my face. I hopped back down the stairs to the kitchen and fixed myself a sandwich, before going back into my room and sitting in on my bed cross legged. I lifted my laptop on to my bed to check my emails, I clicked onto the internet and opened my inbox biting my lip a muttering a quiet "ah ha." as I opened the email from Dida. My eyes widened, it read;

_To: _

_From: _

_Subject: Event details_

_Bella,_

_The details are as follows;_

_The date will be November 25__th__ 2011 it starts at 8:00 approx ending at anywhere between 12:00 and 1:00. I'll have my car pick you upon the way to the venue. _

_The dinner will be held at Mr. and Mrs. Edward and Elisabeth Mason's house and is formal dress so you need to wear a dress preferable, heels aren't necessary, Bella please we don't need you causing any injuries._

_See you soon, _

_Dida_

Edward and Elisabeth Mason, Edward's parents. Well, this should be interesting.

**A/N So? I hope you liked it lots of Edward in this one : D! So down to business I'm so sorry for this taking so long but I've been busy with college work I've been have grade worries in my two science subjects lately, you know as much as I wish this could take priority it can't : ( I also had a bit if writers block too which didn't help I've had the majority of this written for a while but I had trouble finishing it my ideas kept changing so I could get the right pace.**

**Anyway, PLEASE READ! This is for all readers: I have another request, I'm writing the ball scene soon and I need some dress ideas I've finished Rosalie, Alice and bellas outfits I've had bellas mapped out for a long while. But what I need you to do my lovely readers is help me out with any/ all of the boy's suits and masks if you find one that you think is nice. The girls dresses I need are Angela, Jessica, Lauren, Jane maybe others that I can't remember right now : ) Also masks, if any of you find dresses you think would be nice for Alice and Rosalie too ill take a look cause you never know, there might be an even better dress than I have already chosen! **

**I've been looking myself and I can't find ones that are gelling for me so I thought that it might be more fun this way just PM me if you have any or a lot of ideas, or you just want to chat, I won bite! All of your ideas are really appreciated :D**

**So massive massive thanks to my awesome beta angel she really is amazing and I forgot to give her love last chapter so she needs extra now :D **

**Hope you liked it and I promised to get the next chapter out as soon as I possibly can.**

**Love to you all.**

**Monstergirl**

**X **


	11. Juliet And Her Men

**A/N Heyy! I know you haven't heard from me in a couple of months but I've been extremely busy with exam season. Anyway ill go into more detail below, but just one thing :D it's my seventeenth birthday! So this is my present to all of you...**

**Enjoy!**

**Massive shout outs to alerters, favoriters, reviewers and all you readers I love you all, you have no idea how much it means that you're all reading and enjoying my story! **

**Disclaimer:**** *sigh* the others are still being lazy so I'm on my own again. I know the DVDs and the books, but according to Edward this does not mean I own twilight... **

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**UPDATE: Now Beta'd (I got 2 reviews regarding my punctuation I just wanted to say that I've took it into account :) and I am going to be tight with my own editing before i send it to my beta, however if the reviews are based on this chapter alone bare in mind that it wasn't beta'd until now, but i do want critisim from people it helps me to become a better writer and i know that punctuation has never been my strongest point. :) but thanks to both of you for reviewing and being honest i appreciate it :D I also use english (UK) spelling if that clears anything up colour instead of color and all that and misa? if you read this (and any other non english speaking readers) if there where any phrases that where/ are confusing just let me know and ill edit it or clear it up :D) **

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BPOV

I lay in my bed and stared up at the ceiling, following the patterns along with my eyes. They didn't want to switch off; I kept going over everything that had happened tonight in my head. I was hopelessly confused, would we have kissed? And if we had, what would it had meant? We weren't rehearsing or anything so did this mean he liked me? Probably not. Did this mean I liked him? I blinked and frowned, did I? No. It's just physical, either way I _can't_ like him, I groaned softly raking my fingers through my hair, God, this is so frustrating, I'm beginning to irritate myself.

I let my eyes close and willed myself to sleep, squeezing my eyes tight until they started to ache. I opened my eyes sighing; they drooped as I lay there and just listened. The house was silent except for the soft whirr of the heating and the ticking of the clock on my bedside table. I smiled and snuggled deeper into my duvet, content just listening to the quiet sounds in the house, my eyes started to roll. Just as I felt myself be pulled towards sleep the tinkling of keys in the front door woke me up. _Charlie_.

He was getting home later and later nowadays, the older me, Rose and Jasper get, the more Charlie changes and distances himself from us. He'd be gone from early in the morning to late at night. We rarely got to see him anyway, apart from the occasional morning when he would leave a little bit later, even when we did, it just wasn't the same. When we were younger before and even after our mom died, he was there. I never realized how broken he actually was until I look back now. Bless him, he looked after us all and did the best he could, he even went through both mine and Rose's first periods with us, buying us pads and whatever we had needed.

Thinking back, there has always been one night that always stuck in my mind, it was just under a year after mom had died. I had dropped a vase or something and glass was everywhere. I can just remember not wanting to pick it up or anyone stepping on it in case I, or anyone else, got hurt. I can't really remember the reasoning going through my head, but I went upstairs to Charlie's bedroom. I can still remember I heard his crying threw the door. I felt sad that he was hurting; I pushed his door open, he was sitting on his side of the bed, mom's side perfectly made up, looking completely untouched.

He was hunched over, his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking, sobs cutting through the silence, it was so strange for me at the time, especially at that age, and even now you see your parents as invincible, that nothing can harm them, there always your protectors. So seeing my own Dad like that shocked me, you know? I stood in the door way for a while just watching him, unsure of what to do. I frowned as I watched him go to open his drawer and pulled out a little brown tub of pills. He tipped the little tub up and poured a few pills into his mouth, even at that age I could tell he had taken a high dosage.

I remember calling out to him, the brown tub clattered to the floor as his whole body whipped around to face me. A look of shock crossed his face which morphed into to disgust, not for me, but I could see by the look on his face that he was disgusted with himself. He turned away for a fraction of a second and scooped up the pills and the tub in his hand, his fingers flexed around the little tub, knuckles turning white, I could see the resolve crumble in his eyes, his wrist flicked out throwing the pills into the trash can at the bottom of the bed.

He called me over and pulled me into a tight hug, murmuring over and over how I was his little girl and how he loved us all and how he was sorry, how he couldn't believe what he was doing. My hair and shoulder grew damp, being the age I was although I wasn't completely naive I still hadn't got much of an idea what was going on so I just stay there and let him cry. We sat there for a while, just taking in the others company. Until after, however long he placed a kissed on the top on my head, I told him about the glass on the floor, he told me to give him a minute and he'd be right down. I nodded and gave him a smile, I'd tried to get my head around what had just happened but I couldn't figure it out, I couldn't understand. But then, at that age, who would understand their parent getting addicted to antidepressants.

I turned onto my side and listened out hear the familiar clink of glass and the faint soft sound of liquid hitting the glass. I never told Rose and Jasper what I saw; I didn't understand it, so I brushed it away. Then as I got older and began to understand and Charlie became more and more distant, I didn't know whether to say anything. I knew they had some idea of the things going on with Charlie, I think it was too painful to speak out loud, If we said it out loud, it might become more real.

I squeezed my eyes shut as a tear escaped from the corner of my eye ran across my cheek and hit the pillow. I pulled the pillow over my head to try and block out the silence.

_Night dad._

_/_

The next few days past quickly after that night, Alice had grilled me the morning after demanding answers, miffed that I'd been avoiding her the day before. I repeated everything I had to Rosalie the night before. I told her about riding on the back of his bike, going back to his "house", if you could even call it that, about her mom designing the house and how stunning it was. I left out Edward's cagey behaviour, not thinking it was something to mention just yet. I mentioned what he'd said about Lauren, she found that hilarious, she apparently knew it was something like that. It was my turn to laugh then, Alice likes to believe she's psychic.

Then I told her about the "Almost kiss" if you could even classify it as that. She said it definitely was, I wasn't so sure; maybe we might have if his mom hadn't interrupted us, but that's beside the point. She just grinned widely and muttered something I didn't catch.

"Someone's staring at you." Alice hissed, elbowing me in the ribs, I looked up at her and rolled my eyes.

"Right." I snorted.

"I'm not kidding!" she hissed. "And for once it's not Eric Yorkie." She sniggered, I shot her glare and jabbed her in the ribs.

"Thank you so much Alice." I drawled sarcastically.

"No problem, but in all seriousness I think that boy has some kind of Bella radar, when ever your with a three foot radius he pounces." She picked at her food contemplatively, grinning amusedly at me.

"Ha ha, funny." I narrowed by eyes at her. "Although he does have a way of popping up when I least expect it." I conceded.

"I can just imagine him now, walking the halls with his tracking device waiting for you to come close." She laughed; I just rolled my eyes cracking a smile.

"I'm sure he does Alice." I sniggered taking a bite of my sandwich, picturing it in my head.

"Have you accepted any gifts off him?" She asked me with mock seriousness.

"Yes, Alice, of course I have, I accept gifts from all my stalkers." I nodded sarcasm lacing my words, Alice just laughed unaffected.

"Good, you never know what he might have bugged." She giggled, then paused. "You have more than one?" She grinned I went to whack her across the head; she dodged out of the way. "I should have known, I mean you are a boy magnet after all."

I snort, very lady like, then raised a brow. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Well." She shrugged. "There's Eric, Edward seems to like you and now Jacob." She grinned at me with am cheeky spark in her eyes.

"Eric is just weird, Edward, well that's just the play." I brushed her off waving my hand, then frowned. "What do you mean and now Jacob?"

"Eric is weird." She nodded. "Still there is something going on with Edward, and please, you must have noticed the way he has been looking at you recently." She asked incredulously, turning completely towards me.

"Looking at me like what, your making him sound like some creeper Alice." I snorted.

"Honestly nothing like that he just, looks at you like some kind of happy puppy, then whenever he sees you with Cullen he looks like someone has kicked him." She giggled. "Edwards the same apart from the fact his looks are a little more territorial." she smirked at me, fanning herself with her hand. "You lucky you know, being fawned over by too very good looking guys."

"Fawned over? I am not being fawned over. And territorial? I think your reading way too much into things." I rolled my eyes and took a stab at my sandwich with my fingers.

"Bella, Bella, Bella when will you admit that you are so damn attractive, and honey if I swung that way, hell, you wouldn't be single." She giggled looking me up and down; I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?" I teased. "Tall blond, is related to me, I mean I know I'm irresistible and all." I rolled my eyes as she grinned and shrugged.

"Hey, he's not here yet, and which means I can do whatever I want." She grinned waggling her eyebrows and taking a bite of food.

"Alice, honey, I don't think it quite works that way." I laughed patting her on the shoulder rolling my eyes, she grinned elbowing my in the side.

"Well, what Jasper doesn't know won't hurt him." she chirped, peering back over my shoulder again, smirking, she looked back at me sniggering. "He's still looking at you, you know."

"Who?" I asked curiosity getting the best of me.

"Edward." I raised an eyebrow and shook my head and went to take a bite of my sandwich, pausing, I turned. Lo and behold there he was, when I caught his eye he grinned and raised his hand, I tilted my head to the side and gave him a small smile raising mine back. He smirked and leaned onto his hand and winked at me. I laughed and rolled my eyes looking away blushing. Alice grinned at me as I turned back round opening her mouth to say something, looking way to happy with herself.

"Don't say a word." I sent her a playful glare, smiling to myself, then I frowned and pressed a hand to my mouth. What was I thinking? I didn't? No. Stupid. I shook it away, and turned back to Alice who was eyeing my smiling softly. "What?" I raised a brow.

Shook her head. "Nothing." I looked at her, she raised both her eyebrows. "Nothing!" I shook my head.

"Don't believe you, but, okay." I took a bite of my sandwich and looked over at the empty seats. "Oh hey where's your brother, Jasper, and Rose?" I asked.

"I think they went to my house for lunch." She shrugged.

"All of them, together?" She looked at me and wrinkled her nose

"I hope not, unless Jasper enjoys watching Emmett and Rose make out which would seriously worry me." She scrunched up her face at the thought, I laughed at the image finding it creepy and amusing all at the same time. "No, I think he stayed behind in history class to do an essay, I think, he said it would look good on his college applications, he such a dork." She laughed, smiling fondly.

"But you love him." I mocked, miming exaggerated gagging motions.

"Yes I do, he's a dork but he's my dork." She giggled swooning.

"Your both dorks" I teased.

She scowled at me then shrugged and snorted, so lady like. "You're probably right, but I don't care, plus if I'm a dork then your certainly one too." I just shrugged.

"Guilty." I shrugged.

"Well it's agreed then, we're all dorks." She grinned as the bells sounded loudly and irritatingly above us, I groaned. "Well, we both know what that means."

"No." I groaned, hitting my head against the table burying it in my arm.

"Yes, math, good old math, where we learn pointless equations we're never going to use again." She sighed, and elbowed me before packing up her things, I grabbed my tray and stuffed my things in my bag following along beside her and dumping my trash in the bin. Alice hooked her arm through mine pulling me down the hall to math class, she tugged me through the door and to our seats at the side of the room. I looked around and caught Jacob's eye. He grinned at me and lifted his hand in a silent greeting; I smiled back and turned back around quickly as the teacher walked in carrying a box of tape measures under her arm.

"Alright, class, settle down." She called out from the front of the class the soft hum of voices coming to a stop. "We are going to start a new topic of statistics today." She smiled and enthusiastically began passing tape measures around. "Correlations!" I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at her excitement."We are going to calculate the correlation of your arm span to your height; first I need you to pair up so you can measure each other." The class scrambled to find partners; I turned to Alice who was already standing up to pair off with Angela.

"Sorry Bella." Angela smiled at me apologetically.

"S'okay." I shrugged; Alice poked me in the shoulder nodded behind me.

"Plus I think someone else wants to be your partner." She giggled gave me a wave, she went off chatting animatedly to Angela. I turned and cocked my head, Jacob was walking towards me with a grin, I smiled back. As I did Eric came into my line of site making a beeline for me, grinning widely obviously thinking I had smiled at him. Oh god. I slipped down in my chair and turned to look in the opposite direction covering my face with one hand. I peeked through my fingers and cursed. Fuck, shit, crap, for the love of...

"Hello_ Bella_!" Eric grinned leaning on the table, over emphasizing my name, I cringed then bit my lip as his hand slipped and he caught himself before his head hit the table, I slapped my hand over my mouth stopping the laughs before they could fall out of my mouth.

I spluttered "H-hi?" The shaky greeting coming out more like a question.

"I was thinking..." He started regaining his composure."That we could be _partners_." He smirked

"I...Ah...Well..." I backed up as he leant towards me trying to come up with a reason, any reason, not to be his partner. "Sorry I um I can't be you partner" I stuttered, he frowned tilting his head; he looked like a child who was told he couldn't play with his favorite toy.

"Why?" He asked his voice taking on a whiny edge that grated on my nerves, I kinda felt bad for him but the fact he still hasn't got the idea that I'm not interested and just won't let it go just overrides the feeling bad. It's not that he's bad looking or anything; if he wasn't so pushy I might have given him a chance or at the very least been A bit more sympathetic. His black hair falls just below his chin, eyes slanted, and olive skin, and a slight bump in the centre of his nose giving his face character. I always just saw him as an acquaintance, nothing more, which kind of made me feel conflicted I felt bad but I've only got so much patients.

"She can't because she's my partner." I blinked a deeper voice distracting me from my inner musings. Jacob grinned at me and sent me a wink as he grabbed my hand a pulled me up out of my seat.

"Sorry." I shrugged giving him an apologetic smile, his face fell, but I breathed a sigh of relief as he nodded and turned walking back over to his friends. Jacob and I made our way over to his table grabbing a measuring tape on the way. "Thank you, you're my hero!" I gushed grinning widely.

He shrugged looking down at me. "You looked like you needed saving."

"I did thank you." I bit my lip. "I do kinda feel bad for him though."

"Would it make you feel any better to know he was openly staring at your ass as you walked over here?" He chuckled patting me on the shoulder glancing back over my shoulder.

"Yes it does." I nodded shaking my head, what did I honestly expect?

"Good." Jacob grinned.

"Good." I nodded, "So, shall we?" I picked up the tape measure and passed it to him.

He nodded. "Yeah, uh." He looked around at the other people in the room who were leaning against the wall to measure themselves. "Why don't you go and lean up against the wall." He nodded to a space on the far wall.

"Okay." I walked over and back against the wall.

"Lift your arms." He place his hands under my arms and lifted them with me until they were straight, he place one end of the tape measure in my one hand then pulled it across my body with his other hand, taking note of the number on the tape measure. He then, taking the tape measure away from my hand,placed the end under my foot, he brought the tape measure up skimming my body. I could feel the heat of his body on mine as he leant closer to look at the on the tape measure above my head. My heart thumped in my chest, I swallowed, my face in line with his chest, awkwardly I turned away then back. He muttered the number on the tape to himself then looked down at me and grinned.

"You're so small." He teased.

I glared at him "Yeah, compared to you, and hey Alice is smaller than me!"

He chuckled. "Compared to me and a lot of other people, and Alice is smaller than everybody."

"True." I conceded. "I wouldn't let Alice hear you say that though." I laughed; he smirked and took a step back shaking his head. He grinned at me and chucked me the tape measure.

"Your turn."

/

After math I made my way to my next lesson, smiling as I thought back to math class, which trust me, is something I rarely do. As I approached the door of the auditorium, amongst others making their way through the door Edward stood leant up against the wall. I tilted my head watching him as he scanned the crowd, his eyes landed on me and he grinned, pushing himself up of the wall. I walked over curious, looking down every so often away from his gaze self conscious.

"C'mon." He smiled at me taking my hand, his long fingers completely enveloping my smaller ones; I looked down at our intertwined hands. _He has sexy hands, I wonder if it's true what they say about big hands... _I blinked and looked back up to him as he pulled me through the doors, he stopped halfway down the aisle, I made to carry on walking further down, but got pulled back his hand squeezing mine.

"Where are you going?" He grinned cheekily raising a brow.

I frowned perplexed. "To sit?"

He shook his head. "Sit with me today." He paused. "Please?" He pouted his bottom lip just jutting out further than his top.

I laughed surprised, but I nodded, I'm mean that pout really is a killer, you could tell he was one of those kids, you know, who just had to pout and adults would fall at their knees cooing, oh isn't he cute?. "Sure, but what about your friends?"

He smiled, "They can survive without me for today." He tugged me down an empty aisle, taking a seat halfway down; I took the seat next to him. I blushed, realizing our hands where still clasped together, leant on the armrest in between our seats. I looked over at Edward who was staring intently at our intertwined hands frowning.

"You okay?" I asked blushing as I turned towards him softly pulling my hand from his.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Yeah, I'm fine." He smiled distractedly.

I nodded, not entirely convinced. I sat awkwardly for five minutes as Edward sat in thought; finally I spoke up to break the silence. "Oh I'm attended a function at your house in November, it's supposed to be for publishing business and people like that." I frowned as a thought occurred to me. "Hey aren't your parent's doctors? Why would they be attending let alone hosting an event like that?" I asked confused.

He turned towards me a shook his head sympathetically. "I'm sorry." I frowned what the hell was he apologizing for? "and yeah they are but it's also for investors in the companies and my parents invest a huge amount of money into some of the business, don't ask why though I haven't the faintest idea, I tend to tune out when the business talk starts, but naturally they like to see how the company's doing and to scope out competitor companies so they attend and occasionally host these things." He shrugged.

"Oh." I nodded, that makes sense I suppose. "What was the apology for?" He grinned at me.

"These events are painful, trust me, they are so boring and it forces you to socialize with people you'd rather saw off your arm than talk too, I'm obligated to go to nearly everyone of the damn things," He sighed running a hand through his hair. "Well at least you still have a month before that happens and you have me to tutor in the ways of these things, you'll do fine." He winked at me, I rolled my eyes and laughed, he grinned then sighed. "This last month feels like it's gone so quick, there's only two more months till Christmas, weird." He mused, shaking his head, a strange undertone I couldn't quite place.

"Yeah, it has." It was strange to think it had nearly been two months since we had been cast for the roles of Romeo and Juliet, which was back in September. This month has been one on the most eventful months I had experienced, and something told me my life wasn't going to slow down any time soon. Strangely I didn't want it to.

"You all right?" Edward asked, looking at me. I blinked and turned, taking a while to realize he had spoken.

"Mmm? Oh, right yeah. I'm fine, I was just thinking." I smiled waving him off, he cocked his head to the side and watched my face, he smiled and nodded, turning to the front as the teacher walked up on the stage.

"Right class! Let's get this lesson started shall we." She grinned clapping her hands together, she put us into groups. We grouped off and rehearsed for the rest of the lesson, my mind constantly drifting off finding it impossible to pin my mind on the work. It didn't matter much though because towards the end everyone broke off into separate conversations anyway. So, all in all not a particularly productive lesson, but entertaining none the less. I walked with Edward out of the auditorium at the end of the lesson, chatting about nothing of particular influence when Lauren made a beeline for us.

"Hey." She drawled, smirking as she eyed Edward, then her gaze drifting to me eyeing me with disdain.

"Hi." Edward nodded stiffly, gritting his teeth, she sashayed forward a smirk on her face, resting a hand on his arm, he stiffened at her touch.

"Could I talk to you for a moment? In_ private_." She smirked at me putting extra emphasis on the word private, more than was needed. I just looked at her and shrugged, I really just couldn't be bothered with her, although as much as I hated to admit it she put me on edge. I'm guessing from her expression that wasn't quite the reaction she was hoping for; I patted his arm and gave him a smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow." I smiled then yawned. "Want to get home anyway, past my bedtime." I teased, pushing a few strand strands of hair off my face that were tickling my nose. He chuckled and smiled down at me, he took my hand and gave it a squeeze, I blinked, shocked as he let go and turned towards Lauren.

"Let's get this over with." He grunted, and grabbed her wrist tugging her towards the back entrance of the school. I stood and watch them go until they turned the corner, I bit my lip and look both ways down the hall rocking on my heels, I really shouldn't... I let out a breath and puffed out my cheeks, shaking my head smirking, I knew that if I eaves dropped I'd most likely hear something I wasn't going to like, but then, nosiness was in my nature. What could Lauren possibly have to discuss with Edward, her ex boyfriend? I suppose she may be asking if he wants to be friends possibly, maybe she wants to get back together with him, apologize or something. Well, whatever it is it isn't my business, I didn't want it to be. I was still curious though.

I looked around only then noticing that the corridor was empty, the others must be waiting for me outside. I chewed on my lip and pulled my phone from my bag.

To: Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, Emmett

MSG: Sorry, gonna be a bit late, wait for me for 5 mins

I pressed send and let out of breath shoving my phone back in my bag and shrugged, I was missing my math's text book anyway. So, it's not as if I'm going just because I want to eavesdrop. No, it's not, not really.

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**A/N Hmm bit of ****a cliffy ther****e, but as you can see I'm kinda gonna throw a spanner in the works next chapter, it's not huge but yeah you'll see : D .**

**So news wise, I only have one more exam left till I'm finished which means I can start updating regularly! So as you can imagine that combined with other problems has prevented me from updating. I recently found out that my Nan has cancer which came as a shock, but everything is okay for the minute so we need to try and worry as little as possible, it's still hard though. But anyway, today is a happy day not a sad one because guess what?**

**It's my birthday! Yep my 17****th**** also happy birthday to any readers who have the same birthday as mine! We rock! XD My parents got me a car! It's not a new car or a sporty one but it's all mine and I love it! It's my baby! So I'm all excited about that and I'm also going away for a couple days tomorrow which is why I wanted to get this out today and it's not beta'd so I'm sorry if I have caused you any pain having to read my typos ! **

**So some quick review reply's to people who have their PMs disabled and anons!**

**Twigirlxx – **_**You have no idea how much that means to me that you think that I hope you carry on think that way! Xx**_

**SomthingGeneralAboutTwilight – **_***sniffs* Thank you so much! Xx**_

**Paggle14 – **_**your review made me laugh I love you for the long review! Xx**_

**Twilight-vamp-sis – _Thanks for reviewing :D Xx_**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! **

**Major Lovage!**

**Monstergirl**

**X**


	12. Deals And Conversations

**A/N Heyy sorry for they delay! But I'm gonna leave the grovelling and what not till the end so on with the show.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing – yet, mwahahaha**

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BPOV

I took a deep breath then slowly snuck down the hall, looking back over my shoulder to make sure no one else was around. I peek around the corner, making sure they weren't there before walking round and listening out for their voices. I could hear the quiet hushed tones of a heated conversation. It wasn't quite an argument but, one of them was definitely not happy.

"Apart from helping you with your status in this school, having me as arm candy, you don't care about me, _admit it._" I pressed myself against the wall, swallowing, Edward did not sound happy.

"And what?" She laughed. "You cared about me? _C'mon _Eddie you and I both know that you never really cared for me. It was a relationship of convenience." I snorted quietly, that's an understatement.

"Exactly." He sneered. "So, what makes you think I want to go back to that?" From what he had told me going back to her was the last thing he was about to do, or at least I hoped it was, because you know, as she said, it was more a relationship of convenience and the person I had got to know, the Edward I had gotten to know deserved more than that.

"You like the status it gives you; I'm just as much arm candy to you as you are to me." Well, at least she got one thing right.

"That's why you think I was with you?" He laughed. "Even if it was, which for the record, it wasn't, that still doesn't mean I'd want to go back to you, especially when I have so many other better offers." I frowned at that, what he said bothered me more than it should, I didn't like to think about girls falling all over him. I also didn't like the way he said it so flippantly like those girls didn't matter, I'm probably overreacting, Even though I knew it was just said in the heat of the moment I couldn't help but dwell for a moment at how conceited it sound. I hadn't been right about him at the start, had I? I shook my head and shook it away, I'd been wrong about everything else I'd thought about him.

"Oh my God." She whispered, I frowned just making out her words. So tempted to peek round and see what was going on, but to afraid to compromise my hiding place. I fidgeted on my spot waiting for her next words. "Oh my fucking God!" What! What is it? "It's _her _isn't it?" I froze, her _who?_ "Don't tell me you actually like that little rat; you do don't you, you're falling for her!" My breath quickened, falling for who? My heart tightened as I waited for the answer. Falling for _who?_

"I have no idea _what_ or _who_ you're talking about." Edward finally replied sounding just as tense as I felt.

"Oh come on Eddie; just admit it, you're falling for the _little bitch_, you're falling for _Bella_." She sneered furiously, but that wasn't what I was focused on, I didn't even have time to dwell on what she had called me, the only thing I could focus on was his reply. It felt like hours he was taking to reply, I hated that I cared so much about what he was going to say. Was he going to deny it? He should, I mean its best for the both of us, I should be relived if he does, _right_?

"First off, _never_ call her that. Second, what the fuck does it matter to you who I'm interested in?" He growled, I could feel the anger rolling off him and I was stood behind a wall. "That stopped being any of your god damn business, not when we broke up, but when you started asking me to do fucking unreasonable, stupid and downright malicious things!" He shouted, I frowned and shifted, what was she asking him to do? If must have been something bad for him to get angry like that.

"Down boy." She chuckled, "No need to get protective, I was only speaking the truth, plus it's fun to push your buttons and now, I know exactly which ones to press." She sounded so unbelievably smug; I could almost see the nasty smile stretched across her face.

"Push my buttons?" He chuckled. "If I wanted to I could push just about every one of yours." _Go Edward! _I internally cheered for him, still feeling confused on the whole falling for me front.

This time it was Lauren who laughed. "Sure you could honey." My eyes narrowed, the idea of scratching off her face becoming more and more appealing."But, I'm still not hearing a denial though" She laughed, I blinked, she was right. "Well, this makes things a lot more interesting..." It took all the strength I had to walk round the wall and punch her in the face. Edward stayed silent, Lauren laughed again quietly. "Look at yourself; you and I both know it's not what I'm asking you to do that's the problem."

"Oh Yeah?" Edward finally responded tersely. "Well you know what? Just shove your opinions and your little theories up your ass, 'cause I'm done with you." He growled, I heard heavy footsteps getting closer, _shit! _I got ready to bolt when a laugh rang out.

"Sure, go ahead." Her voice was taunting, it was as if she knew he wouldn't quit, like she had him wrapped around her little finger, when she laughed again the sound even made me flinch.

"You don't think I will? You think I'll stay and listen to your crap?" This time he laughed, but he didn't sound as confident as before. "Then you're deluded." He muttered quietly.

"Am I?" She whispered, her voice a lot softer now, I was envisioning something similar to a spider luring a fly into its web. "You don't mean that, do you Eddie? You _know_ you won't quit, you _can't_ quit, because you haven't got a hope in hell of breaking free from your parents if you do." I frowned, what did she mean? I felt sick to my stomach think of all the possibilities, after all I didn't know how far Lauren would go. Did I really know how far Edward would go, if what he was being so asked to do was so bad then why would he have agreed in the first place? Paranoia shook me, what if it's me he's supposed to do something to me? I felt sick, no, _no_, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Plus, he just wouldn't, or at least I want to hope he wouldn't.

I took a breath and pushed away from the wall, I couldn't listen any more, I knew that if I listened in longer I'd hear something I _really_ didn't like. I ran down the hall as fast and quietly as possible, although somehow I didn't think they'd hear me. I ran a hand through my hair, what did it all mean? I could sort of guess what the breaking away from his parent's thing was all about, well, why he might want to at least.

I just couldn't get rid of that irritating niggling in the back of my mind that there was something more to it all, that if I peeled back a few layers I'd find something I wouldn't like. I didn't want to, I shook my head and let out a laugh, it sounded off, but I just reassured myself that there was nothing going on. Even if there was, I ,for one, don't know what it is so I couldn't stop it even I'd I wanted to, even if it was my business or had anything to do with me. I nodded to myself and pushed those thoughts away plastering on a smile as I approached the truck, I laughed a genuine smile appearing on my face as I heard the sound of Rose and Jasper arguing over who was going to drive home.

"But _why_, you always get to drive home!" He whined

"That's because _I_ will get us there safely, you will drive us head first into a wall. Now give me the keys you overgrown child." Rose sighed holding out her hand, I snorted, in his defence he's only done that once, and he _was_ swerving to avoid a lamppost.

"Does it really matter who drives, as long as we get home?" I sighed leaning back against my seat and closing my eyes, headache building in my temples. I could feel both of their stares turn on me, I opened an eye.

"What's up with you?" Jasper asked resting his chin on the back of his seat; I just shrugged and rubbed my forehead. I studied his face, I wasn't going to go into the detail of what I had just heard, for some reason I just wanted to keep this to myself. So I smiled and shrugged, brushing him off.

"Headache, tired, you know? I just need some sleep." Jasper eyed me skeptically then nodded, it's not as if it was a complete lie.

"Just drive Rose." He muttered turning back round in his seat, he crossed his arms and pouted like a five year old, Rose just grinned triumphantly.

"I knew you'd see it my way little brother." She laughed peeling out of the lot and headed home.

"_Little brother_, we were born on the same day!"

"Ah yes, but I was born first which means I'm the better twin." A soft smile played on my lips as I closed my eyes and listened to the two banter, pushing everything else from my head, after a while everything just became fuzzy, before I fell completely asleep.

/

"_Bella._" A soft whisper broke through my slumber, okay, so being perfectly honest I was half asleep and really didn't want to get up. I groaned and rolled over as someone poked me in the ribs causing my leg too shoot out and kick whatever idiot decided to try and wake me up. There's an old saying that goes; never poke a sleeping bear, or something to that effect. Regardless, the same goes for me; I don't like people waking me up.

"Mmf." I groaned as I felt another jab to the ribs. "Mmm!" I frowned into my pillow, burrowing my body deeper into the duvet.

"Bella, if you don't move your ass right now, I swear." They threatened; I just rolled my eyes, well _now_ I'm scared.

"Alice, go away." I mumbled clutching my pillow.

"Nope, were all going out to eat and your coming." The idea of food perked me up somewhat, but it would involve leaving my bed and my bed is warm and cosy. Is it really worth it? Alice poked me in the ribs again, making me quickly decide it wasn't and just out of principle I pulled my duvet up over my head.

"Not hungry." I muttered, I could tell Alice was rolling her eyes at me now.

"You haven't eaten in hours." She huffed.

"How would you know? Stalker." I muttered still unrelenting, still stubborn, then just to be helpful my stomach decided to get its two cents in and let out a loud growling noise. Alice broke down into fits of giggles; I glared at my pillow and poked my stomach. Traitor.

"I rest my case." Alice giggled; I shook my head but still decided to put up one last fight before i inevitably gave in. Honestly, now that I think about it, I'm absolutely starving. So i rolled onto my front and peeked at Alice from over the edge of the duvet.

"As tempting as food sounds I don't want to move." I said, Alice just shrugged smirking.

"Fine, suit yourself, go hungry." She started to walk away when I shot up in bed she laughed and turned, I blinked at her. "You aren't going to get food unless you come with us." She shrugged.

"I can just raid the kitchen." I answered smartly, crossing my arms across my chest and raising my eyebrows.

"Nothing left in the fridge, which means you'd have to go out to the supermarket meaning you'd have to leave your bed and the house, which therefore means it would take less effort to just come with us for food, plus I think the people at Wal-Mart have had enough of seeing your pyjamas." She laughed, I don't thinks it's possible for people to forget that.

"I hate you." I scowled.

"Love you too." She grinned. "So get your ass into gear an get downstairs were leaving in fifteen." I nodded, then frowned finally taking in where I was.

"How'd I get here?" I wondered aloud.

"Jasper carried you." Alice shrugged.

"Really?"

She snorted. "Don't sound so surprised."

I shook my head; it's true, love really is blind. "Anyway, If you want me to come you're gonna need to leave while I throw some clothes on." She grinned at me and walked out the door; I mumbled a few choice words under my breath as I pushed myself up to sit of the edge of my bed sighing as my toes hit the cold wood floor. Shivering I quickly pushed the duvet off me and rushed out of bed, pulling on a pair of jeans and t-shirt.

I stumbled down the stairs and into the living room; Alice gave me a disapproving look rolling her eyes. "Could you not have made a little more effort?"

I snorted. "Sure, but you woke me up, so I decided against it." I grinned and ran my fingers through my hair. "We going or what?" Alice shook her head at me and nodded,

"C'mon, honestly, I despair with you I do." She shook her head, I laughed and made my way outside to the driveway, the others followed me out.

"Which car?"

"Mine." Rose called out, unlocking it, I nodded and we all piled in and set off towards La Push. I lost myself as I stared out the window mind wandering to where ever it chose, somehow it ended up wandering back to this afternoon, I didn't know whether I should just give him the benefit of the doubt, hope that conversation ended in Edward not going forward with whatever it was she'd wanted him to do. Or whether to keep him at arms length, just to be safe. I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

"Bella?" I looked up, Jasper watched me with worried eyes.

"Hmm?"

"You feeling okay, or are you still not feeling well?" He asked, as he did the others in the car turned to look at me.

"Oh, yeah, I slept it off, my mind is just else where." I smiled, he nodded not completely convinced. "Honestly."

"Okay."

"So!" I smiled, perking up, doing my best to push the focus away from me, they all knew me well, I didn't want to give anything away, I didn't want to say anything, didn't want to make it anymore real. "Where are we eating?"

"We're going to the Red Dragon." Emmett grinned patting his stomach.

"Chinese?" My stomach growled, clearly liking this choice. "Okay."

We pull into the parking lot of the Chinese restaurant within 5 minutes all piling out the car and into the restaurant. The hostess guided us to a table for five and handed us all menus, my mouth watered as I browsed all the different choices.

"So, what's everyone having?" A perky waitress chirped smiling at all of us.

"It all looks so good I don't know what to have." Emmett moaned, eyeing the menu, I rolled my eyes.

"Stop having an orgasm over the menu and order already."

"Fine." He muttered, shooting me a glare. "I'll have the… Kung Pao chicken." He ordered licking his lips.

"And for you?" The waitress turned to me.

"Singapore noodles, thanks." I smiled up at her then started to fiddle with the napkin as she took the rest of the orders. I sighed and looked around the room

I looked towards the bar and there he stood, Edward, with his friends waiting to be seated, I gasped my eyes widening. I grabbed Jasper's menu, which he was still looking at to shield my face, I cursed under my breath, why did he have to be here of all places, now, when I want to avoid him? I guess staying in bed would have been the better choice. Damn Alice.

"Hey!" Jasper hissed, "I was looking at that." He plucked it from my hands and continued to order; I immediately ducked hiding behind my hands. I leant on my arm and turned towards the window trying to be conspicuous, while everyone else finished ordering. What am I doing? I frowned, relaxing my arms, He's with his friends and it's pretty crowded in here, he's not going to notice me.

"Bella!" _Just my luck._

"Hi, Edward." I turned around and forced a smile on my face as he began to make his way towards me weaving through the seats.

"Hey." He smiled, against my better judgement, I did too, a genuine smile stretch itself across my face, when I looked at him I saw my Edward. Wait, no, not my Edward, of course not mine, but the Edward I knew, the one I trusted. Not mine.

"Hi." I repeated not knowing what to say.

He blinked, and rubbed the back of his neck. "I, ah, just wanted to apologize about leaving with Lauren earlier."

"You don't need to apologize." I smiled, feeling awkward, every one's eyes on us, including Edwards friends who where walking over with a waitress. "Though I am curious, I didn't think the two of you were friends anymore, what did you talk about?" I regretted asking as soon as the question left my

mouth.

"Were not." He flexed his jaw.

"Oh, well you don't have to tell me if it's private." I shrugged sheepishly.

"It's…" He trailed of and rolled his shoulders. "Okay. It was just to do with an agreement I made with her, she wanted to know if it still stood." His friends had reached us by now and were immersed in there own conversation, looking over at us every once in a while.

My mouth opened before I could stop it "And does it?" Panic flashed across his face, quickly he searched my eyes, the he spoke seeming satisfied.

"Well, I –"

"Sorry to interrupt." The waitress from earlier gave us both a smile. "But I have a table for you and your group, unless you like to sit next to your friends of course." She offered looking between us.

"That's really not necessary." I smiled trying to fob her.

"It's too much trouble." Edward nodded; the waitress waved us both off.

"Nonsense, its no trouble, just take the table next to this one." She smiled wide and gestured to the table in line with ours on the left; Edward nodded stiffly and took the seat closest to mine motioning the rest of his friends over, while the waitress placed menus at each place setting. "I'll be back to take your orders in 5 minutes." As she walked away all of Edwards friends, James, Marcus, Victoria, piled around the table and looked at there menus.

"So this is fun!" Emmett grinned breaking the awkward silence, every head turning to look at him.

"Emmett!" I hissed.

"What? I was only saying!"

"Your contribution really isn't necessary."

"I was just trying to help."

"Emmett…" I warned.

"You really need to loosen up Bells." He grinned; I rolled my eyes, only Emmett.

"I'm loose already thank you very much." I glared at him, my eyes widening as a huge grin stretched itself across his face. "Oh god, Emmett, no, not like that." Emmett all but bust a gut, clutching his stomach, bent over in hysterics. By this time everyone else had caught on and were laughing too, I felt my entire face heat up. "You need to get your mind out of the gutter." I muttered.

"Hey." He raised both his hands up. "You're the one who thought it."

"Touché." I nodded, the blond guy opposite Edward caught my eye, he was watching me closely, blue eyes sparkling, smirk on his face, head cocked to one side.

"She different from the other girls you go for." He murmured looking over at Edward.

"Were not together James." Edward muttered, ears turning pink, James saw this and barked a laugh.

"Uh huh, still, she's different."

"She's sitting right here." I muttered, James raised a brow turning to look at me; once again my mouth took over without consulting that handy filter. "Might be because she owns more than one brain cell" I bit my lip, for a second James studied me before breaking out into a wide grin, bursting out in laughter.

"I like her Ed." He smiled. "She's a keeper."

"He's right; you managed to get a smart one this time." This time it was Victoria who spoke up, looking me over with appraising eyes.

I blushed "Were not – "

"Together, I heard." She smirked, pushing her thick hair off her shoulder. "Regardless, you're refreshing."

"Thanks, I guess." I smiled. She turned to Marcus who was sat at the end of the table frowning.

"Stop sulking you baby."

"I am not sulking." He muttered, shooting her a glare from over his menu.

"Sure, okay." She looked back at me rolling her eyes. "He's just sore cause he didn't get to decided where we were eating tonight." She staged whispered, giggling, I smiled, studying her for a minute, she was so different from what I thought, I was feeling somewhat ashamed at the way I had been think about these people.

The conversation stopped there as the waitress came back over to the table to take the orders and brings our group our drinks. Now the ice had been broken the conversation between both tables began to flow. I really misjudged them you know? Edward's friends, they were exactly like him, labeled with a stereotype that's pretty hard to shake, especially when you had it almost all you life and because of it you've stuck with people similar to yourself. Its down to high school cliques I suppose, they create divides between people. Divides that don't really need to be there, but people are too scared to venture away from there comfort zone to see the people outside of their circle of friends.

After about twenty minutes are food arrived and we all dug in, the conversation took a turn towards the dance and who was taking who.

"No way!" Rose laughed. "She isn't?"

Victoria nodded conspiratorially, "She is, Lauren is going with Eric!"

"Wow, I would have thought she would have gone with Mike." Alice mused, a grin on her face.

"I know" Victoria nodded, wrapping noodles round her fork then lifting in the air, "Apparently Jessica's going with him." She placed the fork in her mouth.

"So who are you going with?" Alice asked her, she smirked and nudged James shoulder.

"This idiot, if he ever gets round to asking me." James shrugged, grinning.

"Baby, I thought it was a given."

"Don't baby me, just because I'm your girlfriend doesn't mean I don't like to be wooed once in a while." She shrugged turning to her food a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Okay." He nodded; he turned fully round to her and grabbed both her hands. "Will you Victoria Gladice." She flushed red, opening her mouth to say something but he shushed her grinning ruefully. "As I was saying will you Victoria Gladice Dayton attend the school dance with me? Please?"

"As long as you never say my middle name out loud again, then yes, I will." She laughed through gritted teeth.

"Gladice?" I giggled, I could hear Edward chuckling beside me, she shot me a playful glare.

"Another word and I'll stab you with my fork." She threatened pointed the pronged end of the fork at me. I pressed my lips together biting the inside of my cheek to stop myself from bursting out laughing. "Okay, ha ha, now that's over with…" She turned to me smiling a cheeky glint in her eye. "Who are you going to the dance with?" I blinked.

"Ah, I'm not going." I quickly brushed it off and turned to Marcus. "What about you Marcus? Who are you going with?" He looked up shocked the conversation had been turned on him. He grunted then looked away, cheeks turning pink.

"Erm, I, I'm going with Jane." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Man, good for you, she's hot." James chuckled, then grinned sheepishly when Victoria shot him a glare. "Anyway, haven't you had a thing for her for a while?"

"Thanks for announcing that to the whole table." He muttered. "Yeah, I s'pose, I asked her to the dance last week and she said yes." A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Anyway, Bella." Victoria turned back around to face me. "Why aren't you going?"

"No date, no dress, it's just not my thing."

"Well, the date thing is easily sorted and honey nobody has a dress yet so you don't need to worry about it, but why isn't it your thing?" She asked curiously, I shrugged.

"It just isn't I've never enjoyed any dance or prom I've been too." I sighed. "I just think there overrated." She just nodded studying me; Alice just looked at me with a knowing look

"Why don't you come dress shopping with me a Rose tomorrow Victoria, seeing as how you don't have a dress yet." Alice piped up, Victoria smiled.

"Sure, I'd love to, not as if any of the guys are gonna come with me."

"Great!" Alice chirped and started to reel off the details, then the three started to gossip about the dresses they wanted and what colours. I just sat back and listened to the conversation smiling at how happy they all seemed to be. I could feel a pair of eyes on the side of my face and I turned to find Edward watching me.

"What?" I asked smiling.

"Nothing." He shook his head.

"Really, what?" I tilted my head to the side.

"I was just thinking, all this talk of the dance…"He trailed off shrugging, I blinked, heart picking up the pace. He wasn't doing what I thought he was going to do, was he? I didn't get to find out; a voice spoke up from the other side of the restaurant.

"Bella?" I turned and smiled.

"Jacob." He stood smiling holding two take out bags full of food. "Hi."

"Hey." He looked at me, something flashing across his face before he motioned to the door. "Can I talk to you a sec? I wanted to ask you earlier on, but I never got a chance." I smiled and nodded standing up.

"Sure." I turned to the others, Alice smirked at me, I sent her a glare an weaved my way through the tables stopping in front of Jacob. "Shall we step outside?" I wrapped my arms around my body as we stepped outside rubbing them up and down my arms, Goosebumps rising. "So?" I breathed, "What did you want to ask me?" Looking at me he placed one of his bags down and shrugged out of his jacket and passed it to me. "Oh, no, its fine." I shook my hands.

He just rolled his eyes and draped it round my shoulders, giving up I slipped my arms in the arm holes and pulled it tightly round me. Jacob watched me chuckling.

"What?" I pouted.

"You look so tiny." He laughed.

"Oh shut up!" I laughed and hugged it closer. "Anyway, now we've made fun of me, you wanna tell me what you wanted to ask me about?" His smile shrunk and became a little awkward, he scratch the back of his neck.

"I just wanted to know, if you don't have a date that is, whether you'd like to go to the dance with me?" At first my brows arched up, then I smiled softly still not saying anything, I took a couple a steps closer to him and placed a hand on his cheek.

"No." His expression deflated and went to turn away. "Hey, wait, let me explain." He stopped, looking my in the eyes. "Good, the reason I said no really didn't have anything to do with you." I murmured, he raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" He asked unconvinced.

"Yes, really." I nodded.

"So this has nothing to do with Masen." He looked at me, I blushed.

"No, why would you think that?" I muttered defensively.

"Well from the way he was looking at me in there you'd think he wanted to castrate me with his

fork." He shrugged. "And as far as I know I've done nothing to offend the guy, so the only connection I see is _you_." He sent me a poignant look. "So it's not wrong to assume you're together right?"

I spluttered. "We're not together"

He nodded a smile threatening to break out. "So why not?"

"I just –" I paused. "I wasn't planning on going with anyone anyway." I don't know why I said that, it was partly true, but something stopped me from telling him that I wasn't going at all. "I'll save you a dance?" He just nodded.

"C'mon." He murmured, picking his food back up and flicking his head towards the building, he guided me in placing his hand on the small of my back. We walked to the table and stop there, he turned to me. "I better go, my friends aren't gonna want cold food." I nodded.

"I'll see you later" I smiled; before I could blink Jacob leaned in and pressed a kiss to my cheek. "Bye Bells." He winked at me then smirked over my shoulder. I frowned and went back so my seat, when I turned I saw Edward, his face like thunder, sat there scowling at Jacob as he walked from the restaurant. I fought giggles and shook my head taking my seat.

"So Bells?" Jasper mumbled, "What did Jacob want?" I shrugged

"He needed to know something about this place." I grinned as Jasper and everyone else at the tables frowned.

"What place?"

"With the thing."

"The thing." He said perplexed.

I nodded. "And the stuff."

"Bella!" He muttered frustrated.

I just laughed. "What? You asked."

The rest of the evening passed quickly, we all parted ways in the restaurant parking lot, Victoria exchanging numbers with Rose, Alice, and myself before we all headed to our respective homes. We dropped Alice and Emmett home on the way, Alice promising to see us bright and early the next morning. We when got home I went straight upstairs and pulled on my pyjamas and got into my duvet. Before I could snuggled down there was a light knock on the door.

"Come in." I yawned, Rose peeked her head round the door, she tiptoed across the room and sat her self on my bed crossing her legs.

"So do you like him?" She asked.

"Who?" I muttered, playing dumb.

"Edward." She smirked.

"He's a friend." I shrugged looking away, completely evading the question.

"A_ good_ friend." She grinned, waggling her eyebrows.

"Just a friend."

"A friends whose bones you want to jump." She laughed

I nodded "Precisely." She studied me for a moment, looking at me with a soft smile.

"You like him." She murmured, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"No." I shook my head.

"Yes." She nodded.

"No."

"Yes."

"It's..." I paused. "Purely physical, Lust nothing else." Not wiling to concede anymore than that.

"Sure." She nodded sarcastically. "Whatever you want to believe."

"It is!" I protested.

"Still don't believe you." She shrugged.

"You don't have to. Good night." I got ready to slid under my covers and turn out the light when she stopped me.

"Wait."

"What?"

"What did Jacob talk to you about outside the restaurant?"

"Oh. Um he…"

"C'mon Bells, tell me."

"I –"

"I'm not giving up you'll just have to tell me in the morning."

I sighed "Fine." She raised a brow "He, ah, asked me the dance." I mumbled, looking away then back blushing.

She squealed "What did you say?"

"No." Her face dropped.

"Bella, don't you like him?"

"I don't know."

"Why did you say no?"

"Again I don't know, I would have said no if anyone had asked me."

"Anyone?" I nodded. "Even Edward." She asked.

"What?" I froze, I didn't know, would I have said no, I suppose I can never know.

"Would you have said no if it was Edward?" she repeated.

"I–"I paused and looked away then back. "I don't know."

"Well at least your going to the dance now, getting dresses is going to be so much fun –"

"What?" I spluttered

She shrugged grinning. "The deal we made was that you had to be asked by a decent person, we never said you had to go with them."

"You sneaky…" I trailed off shaking my head, what had I expected though really?

"You know it." She winked pushing up off the bed. "Night, I'll see you tomorrow for dress shopping! Oh and Victoria's really nice." She smiled, sounding sort of surprised.

"She is." I nodded, laughing, "Night." I slide under my duvet pulling it up under my chin, exhaustion finally catching up with me, within a minute or so I was asleep.

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**A/N Heyy guys!**

**Finally right? I hope you enjoyed it, cause this took me a while one of the longest I've written so I hope that makes up for it. ~Just a heads up, the next chapter will up ten times quicker but it's only a short chapter, eventful though :D I just had a lot going on I'm kinda worried about one of my best friends and yeah :/ but I promised that this next one will be up within a week or so, a few days minimum.**

**Anyway onto the anon review replys and peoples who have disabled there ability to accept PM's, so here goes! :**

**BellaLaila87 – Thank you soo much for reviewing again, it's a shame I couldn't send you a sneak peek but I hope you like this chapter anyway**

**jadedghost22 – Thanks so much for your review :D I'm not planning on giving up on the story anytime soon, I'm glad you enjoy so much! I hope you liked the update though! **

**Misa –Thank you so much, and of course :D reviews make me so happy too read :D and thank you so much it means a lot and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Jac master – thanks and my laptop has got fixed obviously :D such a pain though and thank you!**

**You have no idea how touched I was to read all your reviews last chapter; I did a happy dance when I got them all. But you know what one of my pet peeves is? Authors who ask for reviews and bribe readers for them, it makes me so angry. I never review to authors like that, it also makes me angry to see ungrateful authors -.- . Ah I know I'm ranting but I was reading a story recently and they kept bribing for reviews and being ungrateful when they felt they didn't get enough. It just really pisses me off. Rant over now. Sorry.**

**Next, I know long AN but I never did my usual up top so hehe, I want to send out huge love to Angel my Beta she was awesome Beta'ing this for me, and she's been a big help with the dance chapter to looking at the Ball outfits for me. Speaking of which, if anyone else wants to see them I can link you to my polyvore and you can see them. **

**Also I've been having a bit of a fan girl spaz over the comeback of two of my favourite bands at the moment, there albums are awesome! There kpop bands, I was just curious if any of you readers listened to kpop (korean pop) out of curiosity, I've come across a couple of people on ff who do but not many. But if you do, drop me a line and we can spaz together, if you don't but want to listen, as weird as kpop might sound, just pm me, I'd me happy to convert you into a kpop lover , its awesome really :D! **

**Wow super long AN**

**So Lovage to all **

**Monstergirl **

**xxx**


	13. Confiding And Beautifiying

**A/N Heyy People! I know this chapter has taken a ridiculous amount of time, but I struggled a little with this one but here it is as always I shall leave my babbling to the end! **

**But first: THANKS to all of you Readers, reviewers, subscribers, favouriters, I mean all you, virtual cookies for you all!**

**Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer****: I own absolutely nothing; I mean it, nothing, at all... I'm just gonna leave now... **

* * *

BPOV

"Hmm, no." Alice shook her head looking me up and down wrinkling her nose.

"_Alice."_ I looked at her, grabbing the skirts of the monstrosity of a dress she had forced me into. "I look like I have been eaten by a cotton candy monster!" Rose and Victoria were snickering to my left, yep, thick as thieves those two. "Alice, we went through the rules this morning when we left the house. No frills, meringue skirts, nothing poufy and no hot pink." I paused. "Or lime green or bright orange, just, nothing fluorescent." I muttered, shuffling back into the changing room to take off the dress, the bodice of which was digging into my ribcage, making it hard to breathe.

"You're no fun Bella." She laughed, she said something to the others I couldn't hear "We'll meet you at the entrance, we're gonna move onto the next store!" she called out as I heard them all walk out of the changing rooms.

"Sure." I answered, muffled as I grappled with the dress, unzipping it then squeezing it over my head, stumbling to the side I fell into the wall. "Shit!" I cursed; they really need to make changing rooms bigger. I flailed around for a bit trying to push all of the puffy skirt off my head managing to get tangled up in doing so, I growled, I was gonna get the blasted thing off if it killed me. I took a breath and tried again I untangled my first arm then the second then I began sliding up my body careful not to rip it.

I shoved my clothes on quickly once I got the dress off of me and place it back on the hanger; I hung it on the hook in the dressing room and pick up my bag. I hooked my bag across my shoulder and just stared at the dress for the moment. It was almost similar to the one I had worn a few years ago at the first and only dance I had been to back in sophomore year. Alice and Rose had helped me to choose a dress then too. Yes the dress is hideous and safe to say that Alice and Rosalie's tastes have gotten infinitely better, but I still regret buying the dress. I don't remember why that was the dress I stuck with, but I can remember how I felt when I was in it. And I didn't feel good.

I remember getting ready and taking pictures with the girls, similar to what we'll do the night of this dance I suppose, but I felt frumpy and self conscious. Then I'd look at Rose and Alice, they looked so beautiful and both had amazing dresses and dates (Alice had been dating Jasper for a year then. Also this dance was one of the things that led to Emmett and Rose becoming a couple but that's a story for another time). I'd look at them and honestly, I'd be jealous, I wished that I could feel as confident as they did, feel as good about myself.

Sometimes I just wish I could have one moment, just one, where I feel beautiful. I'd rather stay at home and snug on the couch if I'm totally honest, but I might as well give it a chance. Before we got in the car this morning, in my driveway, Alice had taken me aside;

"_Bells?" I turned pulling my head phones out of my ears and shuffled over to her leaning against the car._

"_Mhm?" I yawned, squeezing my eyes shut; it was way, way too early. Well it was ten, same difference. Still Rose jumped on me at half eight this morning telling me rise and shine, I wanted to neither rise nor shine, I wanted to sleep._

"_I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you to do this." She looked at me placing her hand on my arm, I snorted raising a brow. "I don't." _

"_Yeah." I rolled my eyes, wrinkling my nose at the cloudy gray skies._

"_Bella, I know I had to use coercion to get you to this point, but if you really, really don't want to go I won't force you, I think it would be good for you though." She smiled rubbing my arm, I grinned and nodded._

"_I know." Truthfully I did, I knew as scheming as they were they'd never force me to go if I didn't want to. At the moment I was neither here or there, so I decided, against my better judgment I might add, to go. Plus if it made them happy were was the harm right? "I know" _

"_Good, I mean I will use all my power to get you there…" She grinned. "But I'd never force you." _

"_Mmm." I nodded, the turned my full body to face her. "But, one thing I don't get is why you want me to go so much?" She just shrugged._

"_I don't want you missing out, I guess. I'd feel guilty leaving you alone at home being lonely watching reruns when were out, you're always looking after us and every so often I want to look after you." She smiled I reached over and squeezed her hand._

"_I love you for that, but I like being alone and watching reruns, it's just my thing, so I don't feel I'd be missing out. However, I think this is the last time all of us are gonna be able to do something like this so I don't think it'll be so bad. Plus when am I ever gonna be able to dress up and wear a mask without being looked at like I'm going insane." I grinned, giving her hand a final squeeze. "And about me looking after you all, I do it because I love you all; you're all a part of my family." _

"_What, even Emmett?" she teased, I laughed._

"_Yep, even if he eats me out of house and home, I don't know what I'd do without you, Ali, either of you." She looked at me with a watery smile and sniffed. "With everything that's happened in my life, with my mom and the way my dad is…"_

_She nodded. "Love you too." _

I smiled as I walked out of the dressing room, dress in tow, I hooked it up on the nearest rack and jogged out of the shop. I stopped and scanned the mall seeing the tops of the heads bobbing as they headed into a small boutique a few doors down. I jogged through the crowd weaving round the occasional old lady who tottered into my path.

I ducked into the boutique and looked around; the first thing that entered my head was that it had a boudoir sort of feel to it. Two shelves of masks lined both sides of the store, each one unique and beautifully crafted; I shuddered to think what the prices would be. In the centre a few rows of dresses sat, from what I could see they were equally as stunning.

"Bells!" I turned to the far corner of the store, Alice grinned and waved. "Start looking!" I laughed at her enthusiasm and started poking round the rack closest to me, I picked up a few dresses that caught my eye and slung them over my arm. After a while I took one last glance over the racks and pursed my lips, before heading to the changing rooms, the others close behind me.

I hooked up the dresses, pulled off my clothes and unzipped the first dress off the hanger; I tugged it on and awkwardly zipped it up. I wrinkled my nose at my reflection the dress hung off my frame in an unflattering way; the lemon colour making me look sickly and the skirt didn't quite reach my ankles. I took it off quickly deciding it looked better on the hanger, I also made a note to stay away from any form of yellow. As I stared at my next dress wondering if gold would also me look sickly, a squeal came from the next stall over.

"This dress is perfect!" Victoria called, as a squeal came from another stall.

"Come out and show us!" Rose shouted I heard the shuffle of fabric and the stall curtains; I picked my head out and clutched my curtain round my chest to watch Victoria step out. She stood smiling and twirled, the skirt flying up, the deep plum colour showed off her olive skin. The sweetheart neckline and left hip were embellished with small crystals and a single strap stretching its way across her shoulder and across the cut out back. It clung to her giving her the appearance of wider curves on her extremely slim frame.

"It looks stunning on you." Rose grinned, Alice nodded furiously in agreement.

Victoria just smiled. "Have you three had any luck?" Were all shook our heads. "Okay I'll get dressed whilst you try on the last of your dresses." She grinned playing with one of the folds in the skirt. We all headed back into our cubicles, Victoria waited as we each one by one came out of the changing room until only Rose was left in her cubicle. We heard her shuffling about then the curtain pulled back to reveal Rose in a floor length red dress. The single strapped bodice hugged her curves and fell to the ground in tiers with a flowing train and a cut all the way up her left leg stopping at the top of her thigh. The bodice was intricately detailed along the front and down the centre of the back. She was beautiful.

"It's beautiful Rose." I smiled, she grinned.

"Then it's settled, I'm buying it!" She laughed and ducked back into her stall to change while the rest of us head back into the store, heading towards the shelves of masks and browsed. I walked over to Alice who was holding a mask that could double as a feather duster. When she saw me she grinned and thrust it in my face.

"What do you think?" she asked. "For Jasper" I choked back a laugh.

"I think he'll poke someone's eyes out." I laughed, she huffed and went back to rummaging round the shelves, then stopped and picking up another equally feathery one, she opened her mouth expectantly but I shook my head cutting her off. "No, no, not unless you want him to look like a Vegas show girl."

"Ha ha." She mumbled, she stuck her tongue out at me, I just grinned and scanned the shelves for myself, I didn't have a dress but it didn't hurt to look. As I looked Alice poked me in the shoulder and handed me a different one, this one free from feathers, it was gold, blue and green with a diamond pattern on it and a music note embellishment above the eyes, which would only cover the top half of his face.

"This one's nice, really nice." I smiled running my fingers across it then I placed it back it to her hands. "You should get it."

"Yeah, but what if it doesn't match my dress or his tux?" She deliberated chewing on the inside of her cheek.

"You'll regret letting it go." I shrugged.

"Mmm..." She deliberated on it for a minute or two before nodding. "Yeah I think I'll get it." She kept a hold of it until we both finished up looking for ourselves not being able to find anything and headed to the counter. Whilst Victoria, Rose and Alice finished up paying for their purchases I leant up against the glass counter when something caught my eye, a small pure white lace mask was nestled in the blue velvet display case, it was quite plain and understated but pretty at the same time. I pressed a hand against the glass and stared at it biting my lip.

"Would you like me to take that out for you to view?" I looked up started at the friendly face of a shop assistant as the moved to open the cabinet, I just smiled and nodded. She unlocked the cabinet carefully lifted it out and gently pressed it into my hands, I ran my fingers across the delicate fabric.

"How much is it?" I asked, not taking my eyes off it.

"$15." She replied. "It's the last one in stock; we won't have another set like that for a couple of weeks." I chewed on the inside of my lip before placing it down on the counter and fished out a twenty from my purse. "Good choice." She gave me my change and placed the mask in a small gift box and handed it over to me in a bag.

"Thanks," I smiled with a small nod a walked over to where the other three had just finished paying. Rose was clutching a box almost identical to the one I had in my bag expect it was larger. "What masks did you get?"

She grinned, eyes sparkling with excitement. "Two matching red ones for me and Em, I'll show you when we get home." I smiled. The others paid and we made our way out of the store, Victoria had decided to look online for a mask and Alice said she'd do the same when she found a dress. We carried on just walking in the direction of the car park window shopping. My eyes wandered across all the different windows until it rested on one in particular, a dress sat in its window, it was the same silvery white colour as the mask I had bought, I stopped in my tracks, causing the person behind me to swear.

"Guys, can you just give me one sec, I want to go in that shop over there." They nodded and followed behind me as I drifted in to the shop and up to a shop assistant to ask for the dress in my size. She disappeared into the back for a minute or so before emerging holding the dress in my size, I took it to the other changing room the others following behind me immersed in their own conversation. I slipped into a stall and quickly pulled off my clothes slipping the dress onto my body. The dress fit comfortably, the neck line dipped all the way down the white band circling the bottom of my breasts, spaghetti straps held it up where the skirt fell down to the ground a waterfall of sliver like petals covering it.

"Is it any good?" One of them shouted, I pushed the stall curtain back and step out the dress swishing round my bare feet.

"What do you think?" I asked, they all grinned at me nodding their heads, Alice squealed.

"You look amazing!" She laughed. "You look so beautiful." She smiled at me softly. "Don't you feel it, because you should?" I nodded smiling.

"It's nice to feel beautiful." I murmured, Alice leant over squeeze my hand, a frown flashed on Victoria's face before being replaced with a smile.

"So it's settled." Rose piped up. "You're buying it."

"Hell yes." Victoria nodded.

I laughed, shrugging. "It'd be rude not to."

"So you take that off and we'll go wait for you by the tills." Rose grinned standing up, I nodded and got changed, by the time I got to the till a small queue had formed by the till.

"You two can go take those to the car; I'll wait with Bella whilst she pays, cause I don't know about you but I'm tired." Victoria offered, the other two nodded in agreement.

"Oh, you don't have to, just go down and the three of you can wait for me there." I insisted waving her off as the person in front of me shuffled forward a little bit.

"No it's fine, I can wait here." She smiled, then leant in and whispered in my ear. "Plus this way we don't have to carry our bags to the car." I laughed and shook my head.

"Win, win." I whispered, I turned back to Alice and gave her a sweet smile. "Would you mind taking the rest of my bags too?" Her eyes narrowed, I grinned at her, she simply sighed and held out her hand, I hung the bags on her arm and watch as she shuffled off towards Rose who waited just outside the entrance. "Nope, I know I like that I idea." I laughed.

"Me too." She grinned, then her face turned solemn. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about though." I frowned, quickly trying to figure out what I might have done, if I might have offended her in some way, seeing my worry she waved me off. "It's nothing bad, not really anyway, you just said something that bothered me that's all."

I cocked my head to the side. "If I offended you in some way...?"I trailed off in question, she waved her hands.

"No, god no." She shook her head. "It's just, when you were trying on your dress you said that it was nice to feel beautiful, I just wondered, what did you mean by that?" She asked her voice soft, I look down and shrugged.

"What I said." I mumbled keeping my eyes fixed on the ground.

"Do you honestly believe that?" She whispered.

"What?" I asked playing dumb.

"That you're not beautiful."

I sighed, looked away then back, "Yes." She leant over to me and squeezed my arm.

"Well you are." I shook my head. "You are, I know what it feels like to have low self esteem. It's one of the worst feelings in the world." Her voice was quiet her gaze cast down, I looked her not being able to grasp how someone as stunning as her could begin to understand, but then again I had under estimated her before, I just looked at her and waited for her to carry on. She let out a shaky breath and spoke. "I used to be anorexic –" My eyes widened.

"You don't have to – are you sure you want to tell me this?" I asked, she nodded.

"I'm not ashamed of who I was, it's been just under two years since I recovered and I never want to go back there, but regardless it will always be a big part of my life. I used to be like Lauren Mallory, a pageant girl, obsessed with winning, being the best and looking perfect." She took a breath. "My mother always had me on crazy diets to keep me slim and at my best, but after a while I started to resent it, started to hate being in the pageants, but my mother gave me no choice in the matter, it was at that point that losing weight, I was never skinny enough to please my mother anyway, became less about looking perfect and more about having control over something, anything." She paused.

I was shocked speechless, I didn't have to say anything though, as she started to plough on. "It became almost like a game to see how little food I could eat in a day, then I stopped eating all together, my mother never noticed, never really cared as long as I could perform well." She breathed and run her fingers through her hair, gaze fixed in front of her. "I kept telling myself I was healthy, what I was doing was perfectly fine perfectly normal and eventually I believed it, none of the girls that I was friends with noticed, they weren't really friends in the first place, it was quite sad really, there were four or five of us in our little group, the only thing that kept us together was a mutual hatred of everyone else in the group." She shook her head.

"I couldn't even imagine how that would feel." I said, I'd had Ali and Emmett all my life, including such a close relationship with my siblings. I knew I had it good compared to other people, so I found it difficult to imagine not having them, not having anyone to trust and confide in.

"Yeah, well don't feel sorry for me." She laughed bitterly. "I was a real bitch, I said some things, did some things, I'm not proud of. I had become so absorbed in myself that I hadn't even noticed my parent's marriage falling apart right in front of my eyes. My mother had always been a self centred bitch." My eyebrows shot up hearing the malice in her voice. "My dad absorbed in work, it left no time for one another, that dynamic worked pretty well until I collapsed one day during pageant rehearsals and I was rushed into hospital, my mother was furious –"

"Was that when she realised that you were ...?" I asked quietly trailing off, she snorted.

"Possibly, but at the time she was just furious that I had fainted and was wasting valuable time, she was living vicariously through me, making me do all the things she'd wanted to do at my age but couldn't–" the women at the counter interrupted her and broke us out of little world, we silent walked up to her and quickly paid, then as we started to walk out Victoria spoke again.

"I don't think she acted that way because she didn't love me." A crease formed between her brows. "I just think she was so self involved that in the end there was no room left for me anymore, shortly after my collapsing episode my dad found out, I told him what I'd told the doctors, I'd just been working hard, but he wasn't as easily convinced, we got into a terrible fight, for the first time in a while I began to think maybe what I was doing wasn't right, that doubt was what made me reluctantly agree to go see a doctor. It was then when my parents marriage crumbled, my mother insisted I didn't need to go I was perfectly healthy, she knew, she saw me all the time, I don't know if she was in denial or just ignorant but either way my dad just lost it and by the next morning the lawyers had been contacted and the divorce was under way

When I went to see her the doctor diagnosed me with anorexia, I had made a habit of wearing baggy clothing to hide all my weight loss so when the doctor requested I remove it so she could accurately weigh me I felt anxious, I'll never forget the look on my dad's face when he saw how thin I'd gotten, he looked like he wanted to cry, that was kind of my wake up call. My dad, even though he's not around much, is my world, it took a while for me to recover and I'll give him his dues, he stood by me through the entire thing, even through his own divorce." She smiled fondly looking down at her feet as we walked. "I spoke to many therapists and doctors, I won't go into details but, it was hard" She thickly swallowed then turned to me and smiled. "But I did it. I beat it, I was lucky to get out when I did; some people have it so much worse than I did." Her eyes were glassy as she shrugged. "That's my story, kinda sad but, if you look at me now you can see it has a happy ending."

"Why did you tell me all that?" I asked still trying to process it all, I couldn't even begin to fathom what she had been through.

She shrugged. "I just wanted you to know you're lucky, that you're so beautiful and that I know how it feels to feel like you're never good enough."

I smiled and looked at my feet then back up "Do the guys know?" I asked.

She nodded, smiling. "Yeah, it was pretty big news at the time but towards the end of my recovery I befriended them all and I told them all the full story, they all help me through the end of my treatment and I'll be forever grateful to them for it, it's hard sometimes being the only girl, but then again I've never had such good friends in my life." She smiled.

I thought about all those guys and the way I had previously thought of them, I would never have thought they would do anything like that for anyone, guilt flooded me. It shocked me how caring they were towards her, by now it really shouldn't have been, it was hard to get my head around it all at once, I looked over at her and smiled reaching a hand over to hers, giving it a quick squeeze. We quickly fell into a comfortable silence as we carried on walking to the car park. I let my eyes wander as we walked; I stopped when the feel on a familiar looking woman walking in our direction chatting animatedly with another girl around my age.

I softly elbowed Victoria in the ribs. "Hey, isn't that Edwards mom?"

She cast a quick glance over and nodded. "Yeah, it is, I'm not sure who she's with though."

"No idea?"

She shook her head. "Nope, I've never seen her before in my life."

I nodded, I looked back at the girl, she was pretty I had to admit, they didn't bear any resemblance to each other so I assumed they weren't related, the girls blond hair fell past her shoulders, her eyes a dark brown the opposite of Edwards and his mothers. Both of their clothes where pristine and clearly expensive, I frowned, the fact I couldn't figure out who she was bothered me more than it should. I shook it away for now as we walked back to the car, we shoved our bags in the car boot with the others and we were off.

The days before the dance passed quickly, Alice had made another trip to the mall and found a strapless emerald green dress that fell to her knees in layers it was embellished and embroidered all over along with a matching green and gold mask. It fit her to a T. Victoria hand also found herself a mask for the dance and on a not totally unrelated note had taken to switching between sitting with Edward and the boys and me, Ali and Rose, some of the others would occasionally join her too. During the week I had passed many fliers for the dance with:

_7.00pm_

_November 5__th_

_Senior dance_

Written on in chunky gaudy handwriting, for a second I'd feel dread, then inexplicably I'd get excited. Never thought I'd see the day when I actually felt excited about going to a dance after the train wreck my first dance was, especially since I was still going stag. Even so the closer it got the more excited I became, until the day finally came around.

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**A/N I hope you liked it! So dance next chapter exciting I know, and who is the mystery girl? Who knows ;) ? So first a links to outfits will be found on my profile so you can take a look see at those. Second – review replies for those of you who have the private messaging disabled:**

_**Foreverbookworm13: Hey thank you so much, you have no idea how much it means that you think that, I'm glad you like it so far, just a bit more suspense to go everything will be revealed soon enough ;) and thank you so much for reviewing!**_

_**Twifan3: Thank you so much :D And thank you bunches for reviewing I hope you like this chapter! **_

_**Jadedghost22: I'm really glad you liked it and it's no problem! Thanks so much for reviewing again, it means a lot :D and I hope you enjoy the chapter! **_

**So as for updating I'm sorry I've been such a crappy updater so far but I'm gonna try and stop it, it's not intentional, honest :D I'm just a brilliant procrastinator! In all seriousness there have been other things going on with my friends, I've been worried about both of my best friends lately which has put this on hold, combined with writers block. **

**NEXT UPDATE: between 5****th**** October and 12****th**** October so 2 weeks max just to get myself in the swing of things :)**

**So, Lovage to all **

**Monstergirl (Who should really be asleep right now :D ) **


	14. The Ball

**A/N Hey guys! I am so sorry you must want to kill me, please don't * looks at you pleadingly* fine, go ahead but make it quick. In all seriousness I've had so much school work to do and I had to put that before this, which I really wish I didn't have to, but I do * sigh* **

**Anyway! Enjoy! **

**A massive thank you once again to all readers, favouriters, alerters and reviewers, I love all you guys! **

**And an even bigger thank you to angel my beta :D you are awesome XD **

**Disclaimer****: I own nada **

* * *

BPOV

"Ouch, Alice, stop it!"

"I'm nearly finished!"

"Nearly finished what, bludgeoning my eyeball?"

"Beauty is pain."

"Is it also losing an eye? Because I'm gonna lose mine if you don't stop poking it."

"That was once!"

"Ha!"

"Don't be such a baby."

"I'm not a baby, I just enjoy being able to see out of both eyes."

"Oh, stop it, I'm finished now anyway." She swivelled me round on my desk chair so I faced the mirror. Okay, so blood shot eye aside, my eye makeup did look pretty good. Alice stood behind me grinning smugly, brandishing the mascara wand like a sword.

"So?" she raised a brow. "What'cha think?" I smiled at my reflection, I was the last to finish getting ready. Alice had insisted on giving my make up one last touch up before we left, she'd done such a good job, but not just with mine with hers too. It looked beautiful, I always wanted to wear makeup like this but knowing me I would have made myself look like a drag queen. I lifted my hand to run my fingers through my hair, but Alice quickly swatted my hand away with the mascara wand.

"Don't! You'll flatten your curls," she reprimanded me; I just stuck my tongue out.

"Fine, but it all looks amazing Alice, really, thank you."

She waved the mascara wand in a "don't mention it" gesture. "No need to thank me, I enjoyed it." she grinned, I smiled back at her from the mirror, she knew I wasn't just thanking her for the makeup; she just sent me a soft look of understanding and turned away grabbing our masks off my bed placing hers delicately on her face l and passing mine to me. "C'mon dancing queen, it's time to go!"

I laughed and softly placed on my mask, she grabbed my hand pulling my up out of the chair and down the stairs. As soon as both Ali and Rose and the corsages secured on their wrists. I hung back awkwardly, honestly feeling for a second a little jealous that I didn't have anyone to get a corsage from. Then we all climbed into the limo, which we'd all pooled together to pay for, and headed for the dance.

The parking lot was packed when we reach the school, it was quarter past seven so people were still arriving, the limo driver pulled into the school and we all climbed out.

I chewed on my lip and adjusted my mask taking a breath; we walked through the open double doors of the gymnasium, stopping briefly to all have a photo together. We then walked over to pick a table to put all our things round. People's eyes trained on us as we crossed the room, I tensed feeling the scrutinizing eyes on my back. I felt naked. Thankfully it didn't last long as everyone's scrutiny turned to the next people to enter the room; it was like a fashion show except people were willing the models to walk in something terrible and commit a fashion faux pas as Alice would say. Also, the hair not as weird, fabulous Alice says; unnecessary I say.

I took a seat at the table ad cast a glance around the room, the lights were dimmed a stage sitting at the head of the room. The band were stood tuning their instruments and doing their last sound check just starting their set. Sliver streamers lined the ceiling in curved rows, lights dim, silver tables and chairs filling the back half of the room. Eventually everyone had arrived, the music picked up and couples began filling the dance floor.

I smiled, watching as Rose and Emmett, followed by Ali and Jasper got up to dance. They paused insisting I go up with them, I smiled, waving them off telling them to enjoy themselves and I'd watch over the bags. I glanced across the dance floor and spotted the deep purple of Victoria's dress, she was dancing with James, who was looking suave in his tux. His head was bent down to her ear saying something to her as she rested her head on his shoulder, they hips swaying in time with the music. I turned away, I smiled when I saw Marcus and Jane dancing together she was talking to him animatedly her face alight with excitement; Marcus just nodded along a small smile tugging on his lips.

My gaze then came to rest on Rose and Emmett, her arms were up around his neck, his on her waist and they were just watching each, smiling. My eyes then drifted away and landed on Alice and Jasper, his chin was rested on the top of the head and he held her close. Her head in the crook of his neck, I smiled, it was nice seeing them all happy. I looked away sighing and rested my chin on my hand; I couldn't help the jealousy that pooled in my stomach, the niggling feeling in the back of my mind that wished it was me. I shook it away. Someday. For now I just settled with contentedly watching the others.

Unconsciously I found myself searching for Edward, then Jacob in turn, which proved difficult given that it was dark and I didn't have the slightest clue what either was wearing. I looked down into my lap and started picking at my nail varnish, finding oddly satisfying to peel strips off, I also took pleasure in the fact Alice would be horrified if she caught me.

"Would you like to dance?"

I jumped looking up at the owner of the voice, an involuntary smile spread across my face, his mask sat on the upper part of his face it was pure gold with an intricate gold design decorating the edge. His mouth was pulled up into a lopsided smile, his hand extended for me to take; I swallowed and nervously took his hand, butterflies filling my stomach.

"Edward?" I asked, double checking, it would be my luck to walk off with a random guy thinking they were someone else. He just rolled his eyes at me. "Okay, I was just checking." He chuckled and pulled me to my feet, I stopped looking back at the table. "I can't…"

"Why?" he murmured, tilting his head to the side.

"The bags, I said I'd watch them." I went to pull away and turn back but his grip on my hand stayed firm.

He smiled, squeezing my hand. "I think they'll survive without you for a little while."

We walked out onto the dance floor and faced each other; he placed his hands at my waist keeping his eyes on me. I nervously slid my arms up onto his shoulders and our bodies started to sway to the beat, my dress swished around my feet with every step.

"You look…" he drifted off smiling, looking like he was trying to find the right word. "Beautiful." I smiled feeling the heat rise to my face.

"Thanks," I smiled, feeling myself flush. "You too." For a while he just watch me his eyes searching face a thoughtful expression on his face, I squirmed under gaze. "What?"

"I just can't seem to figure out why I never noticed you sooner," He tilted his head to the side and watched me.

"I don't know, I'm quiet," I shrugged. "I tend to slip through the cracks."

"Maybe," he murmured, pushing hair behind my ear. "That's no excuse."

I shrugged again. "I've always been invisible; sometimes people who have been in a class with me for a year wouldn't know my name." I chewed on the inside of my cheek; I always denied that it bothered me, it didn't all that much, but still I couldn't help feel a little sad that I was that forgettable.

He smiled softly at me. "Then they're idiots," he murmured leaning down to press a kiss to my cheek, I smiled butterflies dancing in my stomach, he hesitated for a moment, then his lips travelled across my cheek. My breathing hitched, then further down and further again pausing once he reached the corner of my mouth. He smiled against my skin then his mouth fully covered mine his lips parting. While his hands squeezed my waist my hands found away up to grip his hair, his lips moved with mine parting ever so slightly, then he pulled away grinning. For some reason, this kiss felt different to the others, it might well be that this time we kissed he had chosen to kiss me, but either way this kiss felt ten times sweeter than the last times we'd kissed.

"I've wanted to do that for a while," he breathed, I frowned.

"You've kissed me before," I said puzzled.

"No," He shook his head. "I've kissed Juliet, sure, but never Bella," he grinned, I rolled my eyes but an involuntary smile found its way across my lips. "I have to say, I'd take Bella anytime." He winked; I laughed resting my forehead on his chest.

"So corny," I muttered, he chuckled, we continued to dance for a while until somebody over my shoulder caught his eye. He looked down at me and smiled.

"I have to go for a sec," he murmured, nodding at the person behind with a smile, letting down of my waist, I untangled my hands from around his neck and nodded smiling.

"Sure." I nodded, he smiled and walked away I turned watching him go, he paused for a second and looked back soothing me a grin. I smiled back then turned away and walked back to the table, I was about to sit down when I caught sight of the punch bowl and realised how thirsty I was. I walked over to the refreshments table glancing over at Rose, Emmett, Alice and Jasper who were all still dancing, not paying attention to were I was walking. A pair of arms clasped me around my waist shocking me out of my daze.

"Seems I'm bumping into you a lot." They laughed, my head shot up my face slowly heating up.

"Jacob!" I squeaked. "I'm sorry, I was – the punch bowl – and, sorry." I blathered, gesturing to the

table I would have walked into if he hadn't been standing in front of it, he laughed.

"It's okay," he smiled, "Plus, you owe me a dance." He winked at me and took my hand; all my thoughts of drinking were gone. The music had now sped up and the dance floor had become a sea of people grinding up against each other, the prospect of doing that was more nerve wracking than slow dancing. Before I could protest he pulled me onto the dance floor and wound his arms around my waist from behind and took my hands in his.

"I apologize in advance for any casualties to your feet," I muttered tensely, he chuckled rubbing his thumbs in circles against the back of my hands.

"Don't worry," he breathed. "Just relax." A shiver ran down my spine, my body melting against his as we swayed to the beat together.

"Easy for you to say; I trip over my own feet," I snorted, he chuckled his breath fanning the back of my neck giving me goose bumps, I swallowed thickly.

"Well, either way your doing great." I could hear the smile in his voice

I snorted shaking my head, as much I wanted to I couldn't complain, lack of co-ordination aside, I got to dance with two great looking guys all in one night. We danced for at least two more tracks and the second song faded out. I started to pull out of his arms, but he only squeezed me tighter.

"One more dance," he murmured resting his head on my shoulder. "Please."

"No more dancing, I'm tired," I groaned, he pouted. "Oh, come on, I'll dance with you another time."

"Really?" he laughed.

"No," I grinned, "But I'll sit and watch you dance."

"Is that the best I'm gonna get?"

"Pretty much."

He grinned, "Okay," he sighed dramatically, "I guess you can go."

I laughed "I'll talk to you later." I smiled, squeezing his arm and walking towards my table.

"Bella?" he called out to me, I paused turning.

"Hmm?"

"One more thing," he murmured, walking back towards me, he placed his hands under my chin pulling me up to face him, I blinked, he placed his lips on mine making my head spin, instead of pulling away I found myself kissing him back. His lips were soft on mine, I could feel him smiling against my lips, he softly sucked my bottom lip into his mouth and nibbled on it softly. I had to admit he was one hell of a kisser. Quicker than he had kissed me he'd pulled away, he push a stray strand of hair behind my ear and smiled.

"See you later," he grinned.

"See you later," I bit my lip. Then it hit me.

I'd just been kissed. Twice. On the same night, by two different guys.

This has never happened to me before in my life.

I felt kind of guilty, I knew it wasn't technically cheating, but I knew that I preferred they didn't know I'd kissed them both. I push my hair out of my eyes and finally moved from my spot on the floor letting my feet carry me back to the table. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a girl watching me, she looked familiar, but somehow I couldn't place her, my mind still swimming. Her hair was thick and blonde; her black dress hit the floor and sparkled under the light, a black mask covered the top half of her face. She leaned against the wall a smirk crept on her face as she studied me. My stomach dropped she didn't see, did she?

I wracked my brain to try and remember where I'd seen her before, I knew she wasn't someone in my classes, and clearly not someone I knew well. Our eyes were locked for a tense second, my thoughts were brought back to there lips on mine, I unconsciously brought my hand up to brush my lips. I blinked, pulling my fingers away and breaking my gaze, I shook my head. No, she can't know, she would have to have been watching me for the past half an hour. Across the room Alice and the others were back at the table and were waving me over.

"Bella!" Alice shouted over the thumping bass of the music.

"Hey Alice," I called as I reached the table flopping down in the seat beside her.

"See?" she grinned, "Wasn't I right, aren't you having fun?"

"Fun," I breathed. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it."

Somehow I knew this was gonna come and bite me on the ass.

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**A/N So, once again I am so sorry for such a late update I am going to set a date for the next one again, I have started to write this chapter so I'm hoping to have it up for you guys, just scroll to the bottom if you want to see that. Anyway I need to wish a mahoosive belated happy birthday to Edwardsgirlyforever! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY :D **

**SO review replies for people who were Anon or who have disabled the pm feature:**

_**ForeverBookworm13: Hehe thanks for reviewing! And yeah I agree about the kisses :P thank you so much for both of your reviews and I hope you liked this chapter.**_

_**Josiedannie: Thank you bunches for your review : ) I'm glad your enjoying it so far, I really hope you liked this chapter too! **_

_**Twifan3: Thank you so much for your review, I'm glad you think so :D I hope you like this chapter!**_

**So next update hopefully a week today, if not then two weeks today or anytime in between :D **

**Lovage to all :D **

**Monstergirl **

**x**


	15. AN

**Hey! **

**No, this isnt a chapter, I just wanted to let you all know that I've posted up links on my profile of the dresses and outfits from the last two chapters :)**

**If any of the links dont work, which they shouldnt since I checked most of them, just pm me and I'll fix it :D **

**Lovage to all **

**Monstergirl**

**x**


	16. Networking And Proposals

** A/N Hey I am so incredibly sorry for the wait**

**All the rest of the authors note business is down below the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

* * *

I stood in front of my mirror and stared at my reflection; I bit my lip and tugged at the hem of the dress that Victoria had insisted was perfect for the networking party tonight. She had taken me shopping about a week ago to find something for the occasion since the only two dresses I owned were my prom dress and a sparkly purple dress, that Rose had bought me years ago, which was far too small and reached above my thighs, something told me neither of them were appropriate. So I asked Victoria to take me to buy a dress that was suitable. It took us awhile, but eventually we did find a dress that would work for the night.

_"So are you sure this looks okay?" I bit my lip, eyeing myself in the mirror, turning this way and that, running my hands down my sides._

_"Yes," Victoria sighed. "It's perfect, why are you so worried about this anyway? You weren't even this anxious over your prom dress." She looked at me through the mirror, raising a brow._

_"Well, I'm meeting –" I caught myself, I didn't want to tell her I was nervous about meeting Edward's mom again, especially considering the fact I'm not even Edward's girlfriend. The first time we had met hadn't exactly been under the best circumstances, and I'm pretty sure that she wasn't all that happy to see me there. Considering I had never wanted to go to prom in the first place my dress choice, while I did want a nice one, was not something I was overly worried about because that was for me no one else. This time, however I had people I needed to impress, and that scared the shit out of me. "Prospective employers, I really want to make a good impression." Not exactly a lie, just not the whole truth._

_"Mhm, right and I'm sure there's no other reason other than that."_

_"There's not." My face flushed, she nodded laughing._

_"Sure." She grinned pressing her tongue into her cheek._

_"There's not!" I shook my head violently then bit my lip ignoring her and going back to deliberating over the dress._

_"I think Elizabeth will like that one."_

_"Really?" I asked without realising flushing pink when I caught myself._

_"I knew it!" she laughed, "You really like him don't you?"_

_"I, yes, yeah I do," I murmured, it was the first time I had said it out loud, it was quite freeing. Victoria's smirk had softened into a smile._

_"I can't guarantee Elizabeth will like you," she said, I blinked unsure whether to be offended or not. Then I thought back to when we first met she didn't seem all that pleased to see me at her house then. Victoria grinned at me through the mirror, "Nothing against you Bells, but Elizabeth isn't the easiest women to get along with, especially when your not filthy rich."_

_"I have to try though don't I?" I shrugged, taking my lip between my teeth. For a second she looked at me hard, then nodded._

_"In that case, that dress is perfect," she smirked. "Edward won't be able to keep his paws of you." I laughed rolling my eyes. I picked up one of my shoes from the floor, grinning at her through the mirror, quickly whipping it at her head._

_"Oh!" She squeaked as she saw my pump flying towards her head. I sniggered as it grazed the top of her head and landed by her feet._

After that she chucked the shoe back at me and eventually we bought the dress. After that with the dress hung in my wardrobe as a reminder of what was coming the days rolled into one another until D-day finally arrived.

I pulled on my dress running my hands down my sides to press down any wrinkles and fluffed up my hair applying a thin layer of make up. I grabbed my clutch off my dresser and wobbled downstairs with my heels. Alice insisted they'd look more professional than flats; I wasn't so sure, 'cause if I tripped over that wouldn't be very professional. Hell, with my luck I'd end up knocking someone else over and everyone would go down like a set of dominoes.

I blew air out of my cheeks and bit my lip as I paced back and forth waiting for the doorbell to ring. I looked at myself in the mirror for the umpteenth time to check that my dress was still straight and my hair still in place, trying to convince myself that my make up wasn't too heavy and my hair wasn't going to fall out. The squeak of the doorbell made me jump and snatch up my purse off the cabinet; I fumbled with my keys as I stumbled to the door. I pulled open the front door to reveal a perfectly coifed woman dressed in a white, Breakfast at Tiffany's style dress with a set of pearls resting around her neck.

"Bella." She smiled. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes."

I grinned clutching my purse awkwardly in front of me. "It's only been three months, Dida."

"Still, I got used to having you around all summer – the new intern is nowhere near as good as you at making me coffee." She teased

"Well, what can I say? After having to make coffee for you and Jane everyday for three months I'd become a bit of an expert." I laughed.

"You make it sound like it's all I had you do."

"Right, we can't forget all that filing I did."

"C'mon you can't say you don't love working with me during the summer, especially those nights you'd help me look through all the books I'd need to approve and edit." She reminisced grinning. She's right though, I did love it. It was one of my favourite things about the job. I had copies of most of the books that Dida had published.

"No, I do love it."

"I do need to talk to you about something related to that actually, but that can wait for now." She smiled secretively and looked me up and down appraising me, raising a brow when her eyes fixed on my feet. "Heels, Bella? What did I say about heels?"

I shrugged sheepishly, "Alice forced them on me."

She rolled her eyes, "Of course she did. I like the dress though, very nice." She smiled at me fondly, then clapped her hands together. "Well, we must be going." I nodded and followed her out the door locking it behind me.

We took Dida's own car to the party instead of her driver and we got there within a few minutes. Ushering us in as soon as we set foot on the steps was a red faced woman who greeted us with a smile and told us to make our way into the main living area. From then it was just a whirl wind of meeting and greeting people, shaking hands, introducing myself then discussing business. Then as quickly as I got one person Dida would usher me to the next person she wanted me to talk to and the cycle would repeat itself.

After a while Dida let me go grab a drink and something to eat from a wide snack table covered in delectable looking food. Licking my lips my eyes roamed across the table. Just as I reached out to load up my plate with handful of orderves – most of which I had no idea what their names were - a hand rested on my shoulder and a pair of lips brushed my ear.

"You have to give her credit," he murmured "My mother knows her food."

"Edward!" I jumped; thanking god that I hadn't put any food on my plate otherwise the carpet would have been decorated with fancy appetisers. He chuckled his breath fanning my ear.

"Yes?" He grinned at me as I turned around, looking at me from under his lashes. I just shook my head unable to muster up an angry response, my heart thudded. I rung my fingers together nerves suddenly taking over, as I have absolutely no idea where we stand and the more he looked at me the more I wanted to kiss him. I opened my mouth to say something and saw a pristine looking woman approach us from over Edward's shoulder, the words caught in my mouth.

"Edward?" At the sound of another voice Edward froze, he squeezed his eyes shut and plastered on a smile before turning round. I swallowed nervously and straightened my dress determined to make a good impression second time round.

"Yes, mother?"

"Have you greeted all the guests?" she asked, completely ignoring my presence.

"Yes," he sighed, "I've done my duties, and now I'm talking to Bella."

She nodded, "Good."

I took a breath and smiled, "Hi, um, Mrs. Masen, it's lovely to see you again."

She finally turned to look at me. "Hello, Bella." She sounded less then please to see me. "Anyway Edward, there's someone special I'd very much like you to speak to."

Edwards brow furrowed, "Who –?"

Before he could speak Edwards mother caught sight of someone over our shoulders and waved them over, face bright with excitement.

"Kristina!"

Edward and I turned to see a tall women making her way over to us, my stomach dropped. It can't be her, not here, not now.

"Elizabeth," she greeted, smiling coming to a stop by Elizabeth's side.

Elizabeth placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, and for the first time I saw a genuine, well, okay, semi-genuine smile stretch across her face. She cast a quick glance at me then looked back at Edward. "I'm sure you remember Kristina, she's back in town for a week with her parents and we thought it would be a good time to get you two together again, seeing as you both were such good friends."

"Good friends is a bit of a stretch, don't you think, mother?" he ground out between gritted teeth.

"Not at all, in fact if I may be so bold to say I think it was a shame she had to leave, you made such a sweet couple," she smiled slyly, shooting me a poignant look. Kristina merely smiled and looked down.

"Mother!" he hissed, "Stop it, your just making a fool of yourself, we were never close and you know it, we were 4 years old. The opposite sex was the last thing on either of our minds."

"Nonsense," She laughed, waving him off. "You would always play together as children; remember all those times you'd play doctor and nurse? So adorable!

"That was years ago and I'm afraid I have no intention of ever being with Kristina, so you need to accept that and if you can't well then that's your problem." He spat, his hands curling into tight fists, his knuckles turning white.

"Edward," she reprimanded. "Stop being so rude, we have guests."

"No. I won't, you've never once pushed a girl onto me, my love life is the only place you ever gave me any freedom, and I'll be dammed if I'm gonna let you decided who I will or will not be with," he fumed; his mother looked scandalised narrowing her eyes.

"I will not have you talk to me this way, I am your mother, I know what's best for you," she insisted casting a glance at Kristina, then turned to look at me with a cool gaze. "And what isn't."

Edwards jaw tensed, "You don't have the first idea about what's the best for me."

"I'm your mother," she laughed. "Of course I do."

Kristina placed a hand on Elizabeth's arm. "Elizabeth, its okay, let him be with whom he wants to be with," She smiled, but it wasn't a sweet smile, it was a smile that made me squirm. "He'll learn eventually, I mean who knows what other boys she's fooling around with," she smirked at me, my stomach dropped, it was her at the dance, she was the one who saw me kiss both Edward and Jacob, her smile grew wider as she studied my face. "He'll understand, eventually."

The anger bubbled up inside me, but before I could open my mouth Edward jumped to my defence.

"Don't talk the way about her; you don't know anything about her!" He snarled.

"But I do," she laughed. "More than you think."

"Cut the crap!" he shouted.

"Edward!" Elizabeth hissed in warning.

"No! I will not let you talk about my girlfriend like this!" He paused for a second; seeming shocked himself at his own words. I blinked, Girlfriend? Before I could think about that Elizabeth let out a sharp laugh and made her opinion of me more than clear.

"Girlfriend? Edward, please." She smirked down at me. "She's not good enough for you."

"Yes, girlfriend. I frankly don't give a fuck mother," he spat, his mother reeled back horrified, shock tightening her features.

"Edward –"

"It doesn't matter whether or not you think she's good enough – because mine is the only opinion that matters; I like Bella and nothing you say or do is going to change that." He started to turn then paused. "Oh and Kristina, enjoy the rest of your week, you won't be seeing me again whilst you're here." With that Edward grabbed my wrist and tugged me through the crowd of people who had gathered to watch as the drama unfolded.

He slid his hand down my wrist as he knotted his fingers with mine and tugged me through the throngs of people and out into the hall way. He paused for a second and took a breath looking between the stairs and the kitchen; quickly he pulled me in the direction of the kitchen weaving around the caterers and headed towards the patio doors. Edward mumbled quick apologies as he pulled me through the door. The icy wind bit at my neck as he pulled me down the decking and to a bench that sat on its own on the grass just out of view of the house. For a while we sat in silence neither of us seeming to know what to say, finally I took the plunge.

"Thank you," I murmured, squeezing his hand with my own.

"You don't need to thank me; you didn't deserve any of that." He shook his head, running a hand along his face. I didn't say anything, but just smiled, guilt bubbling in my stomach. "Implying you're a slut, who the hell does she think she is?" He fumed tugging at his hair with his free hand.

"Its fine, Edward, honestly." I brushed my thumb rhythmically across the back of his palm.

"It isn't!" He shook his head furiously, his nose wrinkled in disgust. "And my mother, the things she said, thinking she could push me around and control me." I put my free hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Forget about it for now, no harm no foul, right?" I said rubbing circles into his shoulder, he nodded letting out a breath, his shoulders dropping and the tension melted slowly away. He turned to face me and lifted his hand up to my cheek, brushing his fingers across the skin. I then finally asked the question that had been on the tip of my tongue since we had come outside.

"Did you mean what you said?" I asked, he cocked his head to the side. "About me being your girlfriend."

He smiled taking my hand from his shoulder and bringing it to his lips, "Do you want to be?"

"I don't know," I breathed trying to let my brain process everything, my mind swimming with mixed emotions.

"I want this to be what you want it to be," he murmured, I bit my lip, then smiled. The briefest flash of guilt nagged at me, then quickly went away.

"I think I'd like that, to be your girlfriend." A wide grin stretched across his face as he gathered me up into his arms and pressed a kiss to my lips, them moving softly with mine. He let go of my hand to take my waist and cupped my face with free hand. My own went up to brush the hairs at the nape of his neck and knot themselves into his hair. He softly nipped at my bottom lip and gently parted my lips with his own. Eventually we both pulled back he rested his forehead against mine with a smile then finally leant back, our fingers tangled together.

"Come on," he whispered, placing one last kiss on the corner of my mouth. "We'd better go back inside." I nodded; he stood up pulling me with him.

Inside we made our way to the entrance hall where Dida was waiting with crossed arms and a raised brow; later I mouthed, she nodded. That was a conversation I was dreading, she must know now what went down tonight. I knew she'd be disappointed in me, the whole point of tonight was to make a good impression on the people here tonight. The fact I had pissed off a women that was donating a lot of money to their companies - told me I hadn't really sold myself to them. I turned, remembering I needed to grab my jacket, Edward offered to go and get it, I nodded and played with my fingers as I waited. Just when my mind started to wonder someone brushed past my side leaning down to inconspicuously whisper in my ear.

"Edward will realise what trash you really are, and even though I'm leaving soon there will be other women. Better women, women a whole lot more suited to Edward than you will ever be, remember that." Chills ran down my spine as she walked away, I could just see her lips pull up into a smirk as she walk out the door.

I swallowed thickly jumping when a hand came down on my shoulder.

"Hey? Are you alright?" Edward asked looking at me with a frown.

I nodded "Yeah, I'm fine."

In actual fact I wasn't, because a part of me knew she was right.

* * *

**A/N Hey you guys, I hoped you liked the chapter and I am so sorry about the lack of review replies this chapter I just thought you'd prefer me to get the chapter up and I've been ridiculously busy with college work, but ****you have no idea how much I want to reply to each of you, I thought it would be kinda random too after all this time. ****I have read all of your comments and it makes me really happy that you all ike the story and aren't giving up on me even though I'm a terrible updater! You can guarantee the normal replies for this chapter :) **

**Shout outs to all commenters! **

_**SoniaBella, SparklyVampires32, music-is-life2009, twilightlvr4vr, Katie-Hearts-11, Selfless Angel, angie15luvzcullens, ClancyJane, fb13, Glamourous Shellz, xX a black rose Xx, Juliet Palamino, Jabberjay98, BellaLaila87, 2brown-eyes, BeingHannah923, edwardsgirly4eva.**_

**and special shout outs to all of you who have continued to review my story which is the majority of you up there :)! **

**Next I wanted to shout out to xX a black rose Xx your review was awesome its randomness made me laugh and it's probably one of the longest reviews I've gotten so thank you so much! **

**And Lastly but by no means least a massive thank you to all you readers and favourites and alerters!**

**Also a massive thank you to my beta Angel who has been a star.**

**Anyway, I can't give you a definite date when the chapter wil be up but I can say that it will be up, I will finish this story for you all and for me :) **

**Lovage to all!**

**Monstergirl**

**X**


	17. Break Down

Dida's car rumbled to a stop next to the path at the top of my driveway, the whole ride back here had been pretty much silent. From what I could tell Dida wasn't angry with me, she just seemed pensive. She sighed and leant back in her chair.

"That was quite a performance," she murmured, after a second a grin stretched across her face and laughter fell from her lips. "I don't think I've ever seen Liz look that shocked before."

"I know, she must hate me." Even though I knew I should have been more upset by this a smile crept up onto my face.

"I'm sure she doesn't..." she said, totally unconvincingly.

"Right..." I sighed. "Well, anyway, thanks for inviting me Dida, it was... interesting." I grinned and reached for the door handle, when Dida place a hand on my shoulder.

"Wait a second, there's something I like to discuss with you." She gave me a small smile as I sat back in my seat. "This year will be your third year coming for work experience and also your last. I know you were planning on heading of to university at the end of the year, but I wanted to offer you a alternative before you start filling out applications." She grinned, I hadn't given much thought to universities so far, because if I did I'd have to think about what I planned to do at said university – and I have no clue. I know that I'd love to go into publishing because I knew that my own writing was just a hobby, but books were still my passion, and helping others become published authors sounded like the perfect job for me.

"Okay." I murmured.

"How would you like a six month internship at the publishing house?"

"Are you serious?" I laughed, "I'd love it!"

She smiled, "I'm so glad! You'll have a lot more responsibility than you would have for work experience and you will learn so much. And once the six months are up the company may consider taking you on full time, which considering your experience with us I'd say it's highly likely."

"Wow, that's amazing , thank you so much!" I grinned, excitement filling my stomach, I had to resist the urge to jump up and down in my seat.

"It's my pleasure, you've worked so hard for us over the years you deserve to start getting something out of it."

"Thank you."

She laughed, "Stop thanking me, sweetheart. Go tell everyone the good news, maybe a certain boyfriend of yours would like to know."

I frowned my face heating up, "How did you..?"

"I'm nosey, sue me." She shrugged.

"Dida!" I gasped, I wondered how much she'd seen, but brushed it away knowing it was best not to dwell on it.

"Go." She grinned, " I have my husband and daughter to get home too"

I smiled at her one last time before climbing out of the car and sending her a wave as she puled away. I could get rid of the smile of my face as I walked to the front door, as I reached the porch I let out an uncharacteristic squeal and bounced on the spot unable to stop the laughter from falling from my lips.

A boyfriend and an internship in one night.

Who would have thought?

Monday morning when I got to class I immediately searched for Edward. I caught sight of his bronze hair, but my heart faltered when I saw a blonde head of hair bent next to his. _Lauren Mallory_. My confusion grew when he straightened and, having caught the puzzled glance I sent to him, jerked back down. She was whispering something in his ear a grin stretched across her face from ear to ear, satisfaction oozing from her smile.

_What's going on? _I wondered uneasily, thinking back to the last time I'd overheard them speaking. The fact that Lauren was smirking at me nastily didn't help matters. My confusion slowly turned to anxiety as she approached me, Edward following her with what appeared to be the greatest reluctance. I was momentarily distracted from them when Rosalie grabbed my arm and hissed;

"Why is that witch looking at you like that?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but Lauren cut me off saying, "Well, well, well. Look who we have here."

"Lauren, don't." Edward warned his face like thunder s he looked at her.

I shifted uneasily under her smug glare. I took a quick glance at Edward, who looked furious, but I could also see fear hiding behind his eyes.

"What's this about, Mallory?" Rosalie asked furiously. To my surprise, Lauren only smiled wider. Turning to Edward, she asked sweetly, "Why don't you tell them, _baby_?"

"I'm not your baby, Lauren. don't do this."We had gained an audience now; I could feel the curious gazes of the students surrounding us. I had no idea what was going on, but inexplicably my mind flashed back to the conversation between them I'd "overheard" and I felt sick. Ignoring Edwards protests she ploughed on.

"You see," Lauren began, "You had decided to challenge me-" here her eyes darkened, and her mouth contorted into a snarl of hatred, "-and people who challenge me always learn one way or another that _I_ rule this school, and that _I_ will _always_ rule this_school_!" Lauren took a moment to compose herself, before continuing in a sickeningly sweet voice. "I have to admit this was one of my more brilliant plans. You had tried to steal my boyfriend - not that you ever could - so what better way to humiliate you?"

"I told you I wanted nothing more to do with this!" He shouted, she just smirked undeterred.

I began to shake when I realized where she was going with her little speech. My vision blurred as my eyes filled with tears. Lauren continued, paying no mind to my reaction.

"So, I convinced Eddie here to steal your heart, and lure you into my trap. It seems that my plan worked even better than expected, eh Swan?"A few people in the crowd sniggered, causing Lauren to smirk triumphantly. I bit my lip, willing the tears in my eyes not to fall. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

"I told Eddie to woo you, to gain your trust," she continued, "Then, when he had your heart in his hands, to crush you. After all, what better way to ruin a wannabe boyfriend stealer than to break her heart?" She laughed when I choked back a sob. I felt Edward's eyes on me now, but I refused to look at him. I wouldn't look at him. Not anymore.

"Bella, I can explain, please." he whispered, still trying to catch my eye. I gritted my teeth and said nothing.

Lauren, seeing the exchange (or lack thereof), jeered, "What's the matter, Swan? Finally realized that you don't deserve to even look at him? I can't believe you even fell for it in the first place. Why would he have ever looked at you? He has _me_, Swan, and I have way more to offer than _you_ ever could!" Even though I knew Lauren was only saying it to hurt me, I couldn't help but take her words to heart. And I hated myself for it.

"No," I spat shaking my head, long hair falling in my face.

"Oh, yes, and the best part," Lauren exclaimed, a savage glee in her voice, "Was that he broke your heart, humiliated you, all for money! He was _paid_ to do it! He would never have touched you otherwise!"The entire class began to laugh it was horrible jeering and taunting, and I finally succumbed to the tears that had been threatening to fall.

"Do you want to know how much you were worth?"

I didn't hear Lauren's next words, I didn't hear what Rosalie snarled in reply and I didn't hear the argument that broke out behind me. I only looked up and looked at Edward only mustering up the courage to fix him with one final stare and I'm sure he could see how much it hurt me, how vulnerable I was, but I just didn't care.

"Bella, just let me explain!" He called out.

I said nothing.

Then in true cowardly fashion - I ran.

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**A/N So here it is, option 1 was the most popular from the people who reviewed, so i've gone on ahead, I can't guarantee I'll add anything to the next chapters, I also haven't had this beta'd and as I'm just beta'ing written chapters now, i'm not really going to use a beta from now on. I also don't really like this very much, so I'm sorry that the chapter isn't very good.**

**So a MASSIVE thank you to angel for everything she's done and putting up with my terrible updating. I'm beta'ing the next chapter as we speak so if it isn't up later tonight it'll be up tomorrow.**

**I'm also not using this as my primary fanfic account, once this story has finished I won't be using this account again. I still have it connected to an email address I check very regularly so i'll still see PMs and reviews and what not.**

**Monstergirl**

**:)**

**x**


	18. Hearts And Fists

I ran out of the classroom and through the schools empty hallway, trying to erase all the painful laughter and the looks; the looks of malice from Lauren, the looks of pity from Rose and just that blank emotionless stare from Edward. It was all too much; I collapsed against the wall sliding down until I hit the floor, putting my head in my hands. Tears cascaded down my cheeks, still hearing those words swirling round in my head.

"_And the best part was that he broke your heart, and ruined you, all for money! He was paid to do it! He would never have touched you otherwise!"_

Those words stung right in my chest, I still couldn't quite bring myself to believe them. He was paid, _paid_. It made me feel like a worthless piece of shit. It made me feel like nobody could ever or would ever love me in the way I wanted to be loved. I knew I was loved, I couldn't ever deny that, I have my parents and great friends, but it still wasn't enough and falling in love with Edward made me realise that.

I thought about Lauren's last statement; _"Do you want to know how much you're worth?"_

Some perverse part of me was curious as to what the cost was, how much was I really worth, but the other was too disgusted to even think about it and was chastising the other part for thinking such a demeaning thing. By now the tears ran freely down my cheeks, my emotions in tow, bringing everything out into the open.

I was finding it difficult to breathe; I couldn't quite bring it back to normal after running away from all that, fuelling the aching pain in my chest. I wrapped my arms around my legs and pulled them close to me trying to hold myself together, keeping myself from breaking in this very hall. So I sat, taking deep breaths to calm myself down, a repeating pounding in my temples.

I could have been sitting here for hours, but when people started filing down the corridor for the end of lesson I realised I had only been here for twenty minutes at most. I could hear people passing by me; hearing the whispers I made my decision. I wasn't going to let Lauren win, I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing me like this. I pushed myself off the floor and clenched my fists in anger, I started my walk back to my locker to get my things, the pain in my chest amplifying with every step I took, so I could just leave and wallow in peace without having to display it in front of the whole school.

When I got there I saw a crowd of people around my locker, all riled up shouting fight, fight, fight over and over again, drilling into my head, getting louder and louder . I pushed through the crowd to get to my locker not really caring who was fighting because frankly fights happen all the time and there was nothing I could do to stop it without getting hurt myself. My thoughts completely changed however when I saw what was going on.

"How dare you do that to her! You bastard!" I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Edward being pushed up against the lockers by Emmet and Jasper. I watch as Emmet pulled his fist back and let it snap forward into Edwards face.

"You hurt Bella, now we hurt you." I watched as Jasper, the calmest person I know pull back his knee, bringing it full force into Edward's crotch, Edward cried out and doubled over. I snapped out of my trance and called to Emmet and Jasper, they didn't move Jasper just pulled Edward by the collar right close to his face, his blue eyes flashing dangerously.

"She didn't even deserve what you did, but you definitely deserve this." He pulled his fist back and pushed it full force into Edward's face repeatedly between each venom filled word.

"Son. Of. A. Bitch" he said each word so low and menacing it made me shiver. I rushed forward to try and stop Jasper before he did any real damage; I could see blood running down from Edwards's nose on to crimson lips.

"Jasper! Stop it!" Jasper and Emmet turned to look at me, the scowls on their faces softening, with the rest of the crowd turning their heads to watch me, waiting to see my next move. I simply gave Edward a look of disgust and anger.

"He's not even worth it." I told them shaking my head, both their eyes look solemn. They let go of Edward, his legs buckled and he slid down the lockers hitting the floor. They started towards me the whole crowd watching the exchange; you know I wished they would just leave. However, that was the least of my worries when I saw Edward wipe his face with the back of his hand get up and start towards Emmet and Jasper my eyes widened, I knew what he was going to do.

Before I could warn him Edward grabbed Jasper by the throat and shoved him against the wall. Jasper grunted trying to get away from Edwards grasp as he punched him in the gut, Jasper still struggled against Edward neither moving an inch as they were both so evenly match. Then Emmet stalked forward and grabbed Edward by the back of his shirt, too surprised to keep a grip on Jasper, Edward lost his grip on Jaspers throat . Emmet pulled him off Jasper and threw him back against the lockers knocking the wind out of him.

"You've gone too far" Emmet sneered, eyes black, filled with pure rage, almost mirroring the look on Jaspers face. I watched as Edward pushed himself up still not willing to give in, he wiped his nose with the back of his hand wincing as he did. He straightened up. then lunged at Emmet knocking the two to the floor Jasper leapt at the two trying to pull them apart getting caught up in the fight, I could see and so could everyone else that there was no way Edward could win.

I stepped toward them again body racked with worry I didn't want anything to happen to any of them. Even Edward, I hated myself for caring, but I couldn't help it, however much I didn't want to care - I did.

"Stop it!" I screamed, "stop it now!" They all seemed to freeze on the floor in a tangle on limbs, the tension in the air was tangible.

"Get up," I said softly, warning them not to challenge me. They all looked a mess and I could see that they were all in pain, but they just didn't want to show it. They all silently stood Edward standing across from Emmet and Jasper fists clenched. I turned to Emmet and Jasper seeing how dishevelled they were, they both had bloody knuckles and Jasper had a split lip no doubt they had other injuries I couldn't see.

"Go." I told them they both gave me bewildered looks. "Go to the nurse's office and get cleaned up." they did so reluctantly. I turned to Edward his faced hard and emotionless as I looked into his eyes giving him a level stare. His body was leaning to one side, blood dripping from his nose and mouth, it hurt me to see him so haggard, but I couldn't dispell the anger growing inside me.

"You have got to be the most heartless bastard I have ever met," I said my voice still soft I looked down and shook my head, the looked up again meeting his gaze. "But you didn't deserve that."

"Bella, you have to let me explain," he whispered only low enough so I could hear, his eyes filled with pain, I almost wanted to let him, but my mind was hazed with anger and at that moment I couldn't think of any reason to excuse why he made me feel this way. My lips pressed firmly together and my fist clenched at my side. I watch as he flinched away from the look, but I wouldn't let him break the stare. I brought my fist up, his eyes widened as they realized what I was about to do, and before he could move out the way it connected with the side of his face.

"But you sure as hell deserved that." I spat turning on my heel and walked away to the nurses office leaving the gasps and shocked whispers behind me. When I reached the nurses office I saw the nurse bustling round Jasper and Emmet who were sat perched on the bed.

The nurse turned to see who had entered, gave me a smile, then turned to look back at jasper and Emmet attending to their wounds. Emmet flinched when she applied antiseptic to the cuts before she dressed them with the bandages and plasters.

"Are you two okay?" I asked my anger slowly melting away as I saw the injuries they had, I couldn't stay mad at them not when those injuries where because of me. I knew their hearts where in the right place when then where fighting him, however much I hated it. I gave them a smile, letting them know it was okay.

"You're not mad Bells?" They both said giving me perplexed looks.

"No, Well, not with you anyway."

"So... what happened after we left?" he asked excitement lighting his eyes.

"Emmet!" Jasper scolded giving him a whack on the back of the head.

"Oww, _dude_!" Emmet rubbed the back of his head giving him a glare. The nurse gave them a disapproving look walking out the room shaking her head muttering she would be back in a minute and for them not to move.

"So?" Emmet looked at me again; Jasper lifted his hand to whack Emmet on the head again.

"Jasper, don't its fine really." I watched in amusement as Jasper reluctantly dropped his hand and glared at the back of Emmet's head as Emmet grinned in triumph."If you must know, I punched him," I muttered cradling my hand to my chest, I felt a stab in my chest as I thought back to the look in his eyes, making my voice waver slightly.

Emmet just looked at me then broke out into a huge smile then started to laugh "Go Bella!" he hollered. I just shook my head - typical Emmet. Jasper just gave me a look, I nodded and he whacked Emmet round the head. Emmet jumped in surprise whacking his head of the wall behind him shouting out in pain, whilst Jasper bit back his laughter.

"Hey! Stop that!" Emmet fixed Jasper with a glare then pushed him off the bed, Jasper glared up at him from his place on the floor. Emmet just grinned down at him then put his feet up where Jasper was sitting before making himself comfortable. I just laugh at the two of them.

The nurse walked in shocked when she saw Jasper sprawled out on the floor and Emmet lying over the whole bed.

"I thought I told you boys not to move," she scolded as she pushed Emmet's feet off the bed.

"Well, Jasper wanted to sit on the floor, so I just decide to make myself comfortable." Emmet just shrugged whilst Jasper just sat there looking at him in disbelief.

"Emmet! Why the hell would I want to sit on the floor?"

"How am I suppose to know it was you who sat there." Jasper opened his mouth to respond, but after thinking about it didn't bother, Emmet, pleased with himself, just gave Jasper an innocent smile.

"It doesn't matter any way boys your injuries weren't too severe, you have nothing broken just a few cuts and bruises here and there, so you'll survive." Then a thought occurred to me.

"Aren't you going to tell the principal about the fight?" She looked at me and eyes crinkling at the corners in a warm mischievous smile, raising an eyebrow.

"Fight? What fight?" she said still smiling, we all just gaped at her then she spoke again "Go on boys, get out of here, but don't think you'll be so lucky next time!" we all left the nurses office and walked to my locker. Emmet oblivious to all the stares kept asking for details on my hitting Edward and whether I did any damage.

When we reached my locker, Rosalie was standing there a pitying look on her face which I really didn't need right now. She stayed in silence so I opened my locker and got out my books as soon as i close the locker door she looked at me and started to speak;

"Bella, I..." I knew by the look on her face what she was going to say.

"No! Don't you dare apologize!" I was confused as to why she felt the need to. "None of this was your fault!"

"I just feel like I could have warned you or I - I don't know!" she wailed "I hate seeing you upset especially over a prick like Edward." She gave me a small smile.

"I know I just need to be alone right now. I think I'm going to walk home, ok?" I told her as I hauled my bag over my shoulder and stuffed my books into it. She studied my face for an immeasurable amount of time then nodded, turning to Emmet and Jasper, who had stayed silent the entire time we were talking, she gestured them to follow her. Although they both looked reluctant to leave me alone, they both turned to Rose and walked away down the cramped corridor.

I slowly made my way outside, where it was tipping down with rain, letting it wash away all my emotions and walked out of the gates, leaving school and everyone inside it behind me.


	19. EPOV Deals And Conversations

**A/N This is an excerpt from chapter 12 in Edwards POV which I started a while ago which I thought you all might like to read.**

* * *

"So? What do want?" I gritted my teeth and ran a hand through my hair.

"You know what I want Eddie." She purred placing a hand on my arm and stoking her fingers up and down, I snatched my hand back away from her. "Now, now, no need to lose your temper; I just want to know how things are going with you and Bella, what progress you're making."

"Things are going fine." I spat through gritted teeth, my stomach knotting with guilt as I thought about Bella and what I was doing to her, she didn't deserve this not at all, but the amount of money Lauren was offering me. I couldn't pass it up. I could go to the college of my dreams, if I got in that is, regardless, I wouldn't have to rely on my parents for college money, which they would never give me in a million years if they thought it was going towards a music college. They thought art was whimsical and a waste of my time. They didn't mind me playing my piano as long as it didn't interfere with my school work. It couldn't be my career oh no, being a musician is beneath me, it's not for me, have to become a doctor and take over the family business. Great, just fucking great.

"Good." She smirked. "At least when this is over we can end this silly break up charade." She ran her hand up and down. "Good thinking on your part you know." she grinned up at me, eyes bugged.

"Did you honestly think I was faking? After what you're making me do to Bella, apart from helping you with your status in this school, having me as arm candy, you don't care about me, admit it." I shook my head; she just smirked and rolled her eyes.

"And what?" She laughed. "You cared about me? C'mon Eddie you and I both know that you never really cared for me. It was a relationship of convenience."

"Exactly." I sneered, snatching my arm away, "So, what makes you think I want to go back to that?"

"You like the status it gives you. I'm just as much arm candy to you as you are to me."

"That's why you think I was with you?" I laughed. "Even if it was, which for the record, it wasn't, that still doesn't mean I'd want to go back to you, especially when I have so many other better offers." I bluffed, but, for some reason Bella flashed into my mind as I said it, I shook that thought away quickly.

"Oh my God," she whispered, looking at me as I turned away unable to meet her eyes. "Oh my fucking God! It's _her_ isn't it?" I said nothing. "Don't tell me you actually like that little rat; you do don't you, you're falling for her!" I froze. She didn't have to say who, there was only one her that it could possibly be, I wasn't falling for her because I couldn't fall her, if I did then I would be screwed, I didn't want to hurt her as it was. Then when we nearly kissed, damn, part of me wanted to kiss my mom for interrupting before we could add fuel to the already excruciating fire. The other part wanted her to stay the hell away not giving a damn

"I have no idea _what_ or _who_ you're talking about." I ground out through gritted teeth, _bold face lie_.

"Oh come on Eddie; just admit it you falling for the little bitch, you're falling for _Bella_."


	20. Falling Rain

I lifted my head skywards letting the rain wash over my whole body, my clothes clinging to my body. This is why I love the rain; it makes you feel fresh, washes the pain away, but most of all it hides the tears that fall down my cheeks and muffles the sobs that fall from my lips. I fight myself trying to get Edward out of my head, but inside I'm still hanging on to every word, every touch, his kiss.

My feet splashed on the concrete with every step I took trees lining each side of the road towering high above my head. An engine roared behind me, startling me; I turned around and watched as the car slowed down to stop by the side of me.

"_Bella_?" A deep husky voice called out to me from the car. "What the hell are you doing? You're soaking wet."

"Jacob? Shouldn't you be in school right now" trying hard to keep the pain from my face and voice, if I'm completely honest I was relieved to see a friendly face.

"I had to go sort out something's so I ditched last period. You never answered my question" never taking his eyes off me as I started to shiver.

"I just had to get away from there, to think." He gave me an incredulous, concerned look.

"So you decide to take a walk in the rain and the cold." He raised a brow, I smiled still shivering realising that this probably wasn't a good idea after all.

"Well, it does sound weird when you put it that way, but in my defence I am walking home so it's not just some spontaneous walk in the rain!" Another big shiver racked my body and Jacob gave me a concerned stare. He got out the car and ran around to the passenger side opening the door.

"C'mon, get in I'll give you a ride" he grinned at me his warm brown eyes sparkling as I walked round to the passenger side and got in he shut the door and ran back round to the driver's seat climbing back in. He turned to me his hair plastered onto his forehead, shirt sticking to his body.

"Thanks, for the ride." The car roared to life and pulled away from the curb towards my house. Clumps of green fly past the windows as we drive.

Jacob turned to me, "so, what happened today?" I looked at him. How could he not know? I'm almost certain that everyone in school knew by now especially after the show Emmet and Jasper gave. However, I could tell by the look on his face he was completely sincere.

"You'll almost certainly know by the end of the day tomorrow." Then I contemplated it for a second thinking of all the rumours that would be weaved from the incident today "Although, if I know the imaginations of half the students at school you will probably have a colourful picture painted that is more interesting than the real thing." I shook my head sometimes I think people have nothing better to do.

Like when I first moved here there were rumours flying around that I was adopted because I don't look a lot alike Rosalie or Jasper. Then my second day I had a migraine so I took some pills for it someone saw and was convinced I was a druggie. It's sometimes hard to believe the active imaginations some of the people at the school. Me? A druggie, hardly. My father is the chief of police I think he would have noticed by now. The way I see it most high school students are vultures latching on to any piece of gossip, contorting it, spreading it around, then tearing people to shreds with it.

"Which way?" he asked looking at me I gave him the directions, as we drove home and gave him the watered down version of what went on today. His hands tightened on the wheel when I told him what Edward did and what Lauren said.

"Lauren is just a bitch who doesn't want anyone else to have attention but herself," he said looking at me "and as for Edward, do that to you for money is just sick." anger seeped into his voice. Then he said something that touched me; "you are worth so much more than any money she could have ever offered him." Not knowing how to respond, but want to show him how much it mean't I took his hand in mine and squeezed it earning a squeeze back.

After that I carried on to explain about the fight and after when I punched him; he burst out laughing at that then like Emmet asked for details. I don't know what it as about Jacob I just felt close to him without even trying he was easy to talk to and in that car I felt the pain in my heart, slowly start to dim. It was only when we pulled up onto my driveway that the emotions started to make themselves once again known.

"Bye Jacob, and thank you." I gave him a small smile.

"Bye Bella, you don't have to thank me for the lift." He shrugged, "I liked talking to you."

I smiled at him and blushed. "That wasn't what I was referring to."

I turned around and walked to the door unlocking it, I stopped just before I crossed the threshold to wave goodbye to Jacob he smiled at me as the car pulled away from the drive and sped down the road. I sighed and looked at the time, I had just over an hour before Rose and Jaz would be home and another hour before Charlie would be home.

I went upstairs to my room to gather my thoughts; the emptiness only seemed to make the emotions push through the fresh wounds, making me feel vulnerable and exposed two of the things I hated most in the world. I hated feeling this way it made me feel like Lauren had won, made me feel weak, useless.

I spent the next hour curled up in a ball on my bed revelling in the warmth and security it gave me, the soft linen sheet pulled right up to my chin. Every now and then a new round of silent tears would fall from my eyes rolling down my cheeks on to the tear sodden pillow. I walked to the mirror and looked at my appearance my hair was a mess and matted, I had tear tracks down my cheeks and my eyes were red and puffy. I sighed, I looked like hell.

I made myself look presentable as to not worry anyone, as Rose and Jaz should be home soon and would no doubt bringing Emmet and Alice along with them I didn't want them to worry especially when there was nothing they could do to help. I pulled my hair my hair up on my head in a haphazard manner and washed my face, wrapping a dressing gown over my t shirt and the pyjama shorts I had stuck on before getting into bed.

My head was pounding with a huge headache from crying, I needed something cold. I padded down stairs to the freezer and opened the door and grabbed the tub of Ben and jerry's phish food ice cream. Nothing like chocolate ice cream to help make you feel better, like I always say the chocolate may not always heal your heart but it can soften the blow. I grabbed a big spoon, settled on the couch and flicked on the TV.

I was watching Friends stuffing my face with Ben and jerry's when Jasper, Alice, Rosalie and Emmet all walked in laughing. When they saw me the group fell silent;

"How you feeling bells?" Rose murmured, sitting next to me on the couch Alice followed close behind a solemn look on her face.

"Better, now that I'm home with the boys" I smiled, winking at their confused faces, I let out a half hearted laugh and shook the ice cream tub in their faces. "Ben and jerry the only two men I'm going to be seeing for a while!" they laughed with me and grabbed for the ice cream tub I lifted out of their reach just in time.

"Hey! C'mon bells I want some!" Rose whined, I stuck my tongue out at her and waved the ice cream around above my head. Then I felt the ice cream being swiped out of my hand and looked behind me to see Emmet with his mouth full of ice cream hiding the tub behind his back.

"Emmet!"

"What!" He spluttered ice cream dribbling down his chin, wiping away the ice cream his eyes flicked to the TV "Ooh Friends." He jumped on to the couch next to mine roses and Alice's and stared at the screen, god I swear that boy has the attention span of a goldfish. I grabbed the ice cream back and took another spoonful. I groaned and fell back into the couch;

"Hmmm nothing is better than chocolate" Emmett perked up at this comment and just felt the need to add something in.

"Well, I personally wouldn't say anything," he said winking at Rose who just laughed and moved over to his couch and sat beside him. Jasper, who had been fairly quiet this whole time, spoke up.

"Are you sure you're okay?" a look of pure concern on his face.

"If I'm honest, Jasper" I looked at him, I wasn't about to lie if I denied my feelings it would just make me feel worse in the long run. "No, but I'll be okay" I assured him. He smiled down at me, and then came to sit on the couch beside me and Alice.

"Gimme' some of that," Alice chirped, reaching for the ice cream tub that was still clasped in my hands, I passed her the tub and spoon she took a big scoop and handed it back to me. I went into the kitchen and grabbed another spoon, I plonked back on the couch and dug in the tub with Alice and the conversation picked up from there.

The four of us spent the next hour or so laughing and joking around, as if nothing had happened today, like normal. I was grateful they weren't fawning over me, I didn't need it, I just needed them to be here for me, I didn't need pity from anyone ,especially them. After about an hour and a half Charlie arrived home and greeted us all, he didn't even bat an eyelid at the fact Alice and Emmett were here, they had practically taken up a permanent residence in this house.

It was around midnight when we all went to bed, none of us could keep our eyes open and Charlie said it was okay for Emmett and Alice to stay the night if it was okay with there own parents. Whilst they sorted themselves out I made my way up to my own room after telling them good night.

As soon as I reached my room I felt a sense of loneliness and emptiness wash over me now that I was alone with nothing to distract me. That pain in my heart started to hurt again; I let my hair out of its bun letting it fall down my back and shrugged my dressing down off leaving it in a heap on the floor. Thinking back the day I realise the hardest part would have to be knowing when I ran away from Edward, he wouldn't run after me. I collapsed under the bed sheets feeling tears form in my eyes, I closed them tight letting sleep take me away from the pain.

When I awoke that morning, getting out of my bed I was suddenly hit with a cold gust of wind coming from the open window, I walked over and pushed it shut looking outside at the sun rising. The deep midnight blue sky brightened into orangey gold, the moon falling from the sky as the sun rose to take its place, high up in the endless sky.

I knew today was going to be difficult that I would have to face him, I would have to face the both of them, I would have to face the whispers and rumours, but I can do it. I know I can, well at least I think I can.

Either way I would have to.


	21. Explanations

Pulling up at school my heart hammered in my chest, threatening to break free from the confines of my ribcage. I sat there not able to move, willing my muscles to move, to do anything really; I just couldn't bring myself to get out the car. I stared out of the window watching people pass by outside and the occasional person stop, stare obviously waiting to see what I was going to do, then they would quickly pass by obviously knowing how much of a creep they look.

I knew today I was going to get a lot of that anyway, it would be too much to ask that everyone minded their own business and butted out. Although, I may get a kick out of seeing what crap they managed to pull out the bag, about what's going on. Two sharp raps on the window pulled me back out of my head and back in to the school parking lot.

My head shot round to see Jasper, Rosalie and Emmet standing by the window. I rolled the window down and poked my head out.

"Hmm?"

"We need to go inside now Bells - the bell is about to go," Jasper murmured. I blew out a breath, grabbed my bag from the passenger seat, got out of the car and reluctantly trudged my way into school. I sat in my normal seat and buried my head in my hands, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I think this is the first time I've ever wanted algebra to be longer. Rather than the usual, kill me now drag the time has in algebra, the time flew by and all too soon it was time for English.

I made my way to first lesson, albeit slowly but I was going now matter how hard it was for me to walk through those doors and see him sitting there without a care in the world. However many dollars richer, with her draped all over him as if nothing is wrong, as if nothing ever happened, as if each and every time we spent together meant nothing. I suppose to him it probably did, but to me each touch, that kiss...

It meant too much.

But what I saw when I got into the question was almost the complete opposite of what I was imagining. Edward was sat there but Lauren wasn't with him. He was sat on his own at the back of the classroom his back to me, and I could just about make about a bruise on the back of his neck hidden by the collar of his black shirt.

Lauren, who sat at a desk at the front her talking to her "friends", giggling about nothing of consequence, turned her head to look up at me and smirked. It was the first time I had seen her since the incident. She looked down, contented with herself and carried on the conversation about: Nose jobs: a must have or a fashion don't (I don't need to tell you which side they were leaning on).

I would be lying if I told you it felt great to see Edward with a bandage across his nose that I had given him, but it's not - I don't like that he's hurt but at the same time I wish he was going through exactly what I was. That way he could see how it feels to be on the other side of his heartless decision. I would also be lying if I said he looked completely guilt free and as if he doesn't have a conscience, because he's not, he may not look incredibly guilty but he certainly didn't look happy or pleased with himself. He simply looked lost. No emotions showed on his face except flashes of random emotion when his eyes met mine.

I would also be lying if I told you my heart didn't ache when I looked at him and I didn't just want to go over there and kiss the cuts of his face, because I do. I hated myself for it, I hated felling so weak, so submissive over one person. Though one thing in my mind I was sure about was that no matter how much it hurt I would not fall apart. He may have been a big part of my world but he wasn't the centre, at least not now, anyways.

I went and sat by Alice, Emmett and everyone who actually cared about me were sat off to the side of the classroom, their eyes on me making sure I wasn't going to break down in front of the whole class. Right now, that was the last thing I felt like doing. What surprised me was Jacob was sitting with them, instead of sitting where he normally would. I stared at the front of the classroom as the teacher flounced in a smile plastered on her face, a smile that quite frankly scared me.

"Good morning class!" she chirped still grinning wildly "How are we all today! I have decided since we are all doing well in our after school rehearsals, especially our leads!" she said shooting me then Edward a look."That I think we should all have previews of some of the different scenes our leads have been rehearsing separately behind the scenes" she looked between us again as neither of us had made a move to stand."Shall we?"

I didn't look at Edward as I got up, I stood up and made my way to the front of the classroom and took a breath. Well, at least I wouldn't have to fake the pain. She grinned the whole time I walked to the front then clapped her hands together.

"Right! Let's have our Romeo and Juliet start with showing us the tragic death scene where the two lovers take their lives, ok? Good. Edward, start with the line "Ah dear Juliet""

I got into position on the classroom floor and closed my eyes as Edward knelt beside me and started his lines;

"_Ah, dear Juliet,  
Why art thou yet so fair? Shall I believe  
That unsubstantial death is amorous,  
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps  
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?  
For fear of that, I still will stay with thee;  
And never from this palace of dim night  
Depart again: here, here will I remain  
With worms that are thy chamber-maids; O, here  
Will I set up my everlasting rest,  
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars  
From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes look your last!_

The passion in his voice was unmistakeable - the pain meant in the words was shown fully in his voice, almost bringing me to tears.

_Arms, take your last embrace! And, lips, O you  
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss  
A dateless bargain to engrossing death!  
Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide!  
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on  
The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!  
Here's to my love!_

_O true apothecary!  
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.__"_

His face was so close to mine. It reminded me of the sweet kiss just a couple of days ago, giving me the urge to meet his lips, and reach out to close that distance. I could feel his lips hover above mine for a second then move away, then his body gone from over me. I opened my eyes took a breath, sat, and slowly recited my lines;

"_What's here? a cup, closed in my true love's hand?  
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end:  
O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop  
To help me after? I will kiss thy lips;  
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,  
To make die with a restorative."_

I went to lean down and kiss him, our lips a centimetre apart, my hair hiding our heads from the rest of the class so they wouldn't be able to tell difference. He opened his eyes behind the cover of my hair looking straight into my eyes

"_Thy lips are warm._

_Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!_

_This is thy sheath;_

_There rust, and let me die."_

I fell on Edward shivering at the contact of our bodies; the class was silent for a few seconds then erupted into applause. Our chests were rising and falling and our hearts were beating perfectly in sync with each other. As the clapping subsided Edward quickly pushed himself off me, making me feel suddenly cold.

We carried on doing a couple of scenes, ones with less touching of our bodies, the teacher seeming pleased with us and didn't notice the mood change between us which although isn't entirely different, it is, to say the least kinda awkward, well for me anyway. She said we could have the rest of the period off to carry on practicing together whilst she works with everyone else.

I silently went to my seat, got my bags and walked out of the classroom. I contemplated waiting for Edward or just walking away - after all who would know if I just ditched the rest of this period? I would. I'd know and feel like such a coward for walking away, so I did what I felt was right. I plastered a fake smile on my face and waited dutifully outside the classroom for Edward.

He walked out with his head down and murmured "Shall we go to the auditorium to practice?" I just looked away and gave a curt nod, turned around and we walked to the auditorium in silence in an unacknowledged awkwardness.

I heard him take a deep breath next to me and let it gush out.

"Bella I ..." I spun round and stopped him before he could go any further.

"Don't! I don't need or want to hear it. We're just going to practice the scenes for the next twenty minutes then go our separate ways, then after the play is done we will go back to the way it was before, though I would appreciate it if you would just ignore me, rather than give me attitude like you did before." My voice was matter of fact and no nonsense, and I saw him flinch at the last comment from the corner of my eye.

"Bella please let me explain!" I just shook my head, not willing to waste anymore energy on the subject. "Please?" I stopped and he was stood right behind me, not saying anything, I didn't know what he was going to say or whether it would make a difference, or even how it possibly could make a difference, but I had a feeling that if I didn't stop and let him explain I would eventually regret it. "I backed out," he whispered, voice so low I wondered if I heard him right.

"What?"

"I backed out" he repeated louder this time.

"Bit late isn't it?"

"No, I mean yes I was stupid I ... don't know" he sighed; I could tell even though I wasn't looking at his face he was frowning and running his hand through his hair. I bit the inside of my cheek as I shook my head, did he really think that was a good enough explanation for what he did?

"Is that all you have to say?" I faced him "Because if it is I'm not going to even so much as acknowledge you when we're done with this. I'm giving you a chance. Now are you going to take it or are you going to throw it away?" He lifted his hand to run it across my cheek. I slapped it away.

"Don't." I spat.

"Bella I'm so sorry, I'm sorry I realised too late, I'm sorry I treated you that way. I'm sorry I treated anyone that way!" He threw his arms up in the air. I turned away one last time and the fake smile I had plastered on my face dropped and a tear ran down my face. I can't do this anymore. I wiped the tear from my cheek and kept any others at bay. I took a breath, squared my shoulders and made my way on to the stage.

"C'mon we need to get started." I called to him from the stage; he stood there and looked at me. I turned my head away; I couldn't look at him now. Not without the hurt taking over me and becoming too much to bear. The sound of footsteps on the stage told me he was up here. My eyes were becoming wet around the edges, the tears almost forcing themselves out of my eyes.

"Bella I told her I didn't want to carry on, I wanted to break the deal off. I was late, I have to admit that but you don't know how much that money meant Bella. It wasn't as if I did it for the hell of it!" His chest was heaving as he gulped down air; the money meant something! What could mister white-mansion-huge-grand-piano-playing-designer-clothes-wearing-dickhead need money for! "Yes I never thought of your feelings, yes it was wrong I know I never should have done it she practically forced me!"

"She has no power over you and you have no power over me so if we don't start soon I'm going to walk out those doors." My anger and frustration building my fists curling at my sides.

"But, Bella I lo –." I wheeled round, stopping his words in their tracks.

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare you asshole don't even bother saying that!" I spat the anger boiling over, losing control on my temper. "Those are the last words I _ever _want to hear coming from for mouth. Don't you dare! By saying those words you'll just make the hurt even harder to bear, because I know you don't mean it! You won't ever mean it" I shouted at him a mixture of silent angry, hysterical and heartbroken tears made tracks down my face. I hated having to know I was crying over someone who would never cry for me but most of all I hated knowing that I loved someone who will never love me. The thought my heart wrench.

"But, Bella please I do! I lov - " that was all it took for me to snap, I screeched and slapped him round the face, hard, the sound from the slap echoing off the tall auditorium walls. Edward winced and clutched his cheek; a red mark in the shape of my hand had formed on his cheek just above the bruise on his jaw.

"Stop it! Stop it, stop it, _stop it_!" I sobbed hard, my body physically shaking with hysterical sobs and anger. "Don't do this to me, stop doing this to me!" The pain is too much to bear. I ran from the auditorium leaving Edward shell shocked behind me still clutching his cheek. I couldn't stay to hear anymore. As much as I wished he would say those words, I want him to say them when he means them, not out of guilt, pity or just because he feels he needs to. When he says those words I want him to mean it, to show me his passion and love so I know that he is unconditionally, irrevocably and totally in love with me and there is no doubt in my mind that it is true and that I love him back.

I ran and ran till I couldn't breathe before running straight into someone warm and familiar. Strong arms wrapped around my waist and cradled me to them. I sobbed into his chest burying my face, soothing arms rubbing my back, slowly, rhythmically.

"Hey, hey, hey shh, calm down now." he soothed, murmuring soft words in my ear. I rubbed my nose against the wet patch on his shirt.

"Sorry." I looked up into the warm dark eyes I had come to know quite well over the past few days and a warm smile crossed his face. "It's fine, but are you okay?" I looked up at his warm open face and smiled.

"I am now." I moved my arms to round Jacobs waist and hugged him back. "Thank you." I whispered into his chest.

"What happened back there?" I frowned and he put two and two together." It was Cullen wasn't it? I swear to god," he growled. He started to walk towards the auditorium where I had left Edward. I grabbed his arm before he could get away.

"No, Jacob don't! I don't want any more trouble." He looked at me unsure what to do. "Please?"

"Don't want any trouble? Bella, if this guy is making you upset I want to do something about it." He said. His words final, frowning at something "Plus" he grinned "I don't think I can resist giving him a black eye to match the other"

"Jacob!" I shook my head. "C'mon lets just go to next class."

"Fine," he grumbled. "But if ever want me to give him matching eyes, I will. Just say the word!"

"Jacob." I warned. He muttered something unintelligible.

"Fine! I'm coming!" I laughed, it was a hollow sound, but a laugh none the less at least I was getting somewhere close to healing even if it was going to take a while.


	22. Dates And Healing

10 days. That's all that's left, all that's left until Romeo and Juliet shows in front the whole school - my dad, the school, basically everyone I know. Help me! It's been two weeks since the incident with Edward, and things on that front have died down but everyone is all riled up and nervous about the big show. Edward, whenever I heard the name it was like a knife was being rammed through my chest. We didn't speak, and he barely acknowledges me unless we were doing scenes.

Everyone knew something was up, even the teacher, because me and Edward were not on speaking terms to say the least. It was showing in our performances, too, making them almost half hearted and lose the passion they had before. The teacher had kept us back to ask about it, but we just told her it was nerves, not wanting to explain the whole mess to her.

"Bella!" Being brought swiftly out of my thoughts, I swivelled round and grinned at Jacob while I watched him plough through the students in the school corridor. Me and Jacob were doing the exact opposite to me and Edward. We were getting closer, and the more time went spent together with him and all the others, the hole Edward had left in my heart was slowly but surely starting to heal. He was like my own personal sun, shining through all the bad things in my life. He always knew what to say and when to say it. He was, in a word, perfect.

"Hey" He caught me eyeing one of the many posters around the school advertising the play. "You nervous?" He grinned, raising his eyebrows.

"Psh, me nervous? No. No, not at all." I said weakly, leaning on the wall opposite him. I watched as his shoulders started to shake and he bit his lip, I let my eyes drag on his lips, I licked my own then looked back up where Jacobs face had gone red. What the hell is he having some kind of seizure? Then I heard a laugh escape his lips, Okay, what the hell is so funny he's practically having a fit in the school corridor?

"What?"I huffed, and he looked up to something above my head, I followed his eyes to a paper sign stuck roughly on the wall that read 'WET PAINT'. I glared at him, pushed myself off the wall and looked at the paint smears all up the side of my t shirt. I looked him square in the eyes "So you think this is funny?"

"No not at all!" he spluttered, fighting back a grin, I advanced on him, he stepped back and away from me, I smirked and raised a brow, taking another step forward, watching with amused eyes as he banged into the wall. I pressed my palm to his chest, went on my tiptoes and whispered in his ear;

"You still think it's funny?" I felt him shake his head, his hair tickling my cheek, then I was gone. I moved my hand, turned and walked down the corridor, leaving him stood there against the wall felling quite pleased with myself. The natural smile fell from my face and replaced itself with a fake smile, more like a grimace than anything else. _He_ was walking down the hall surrounded by his friends, looking off to the side, obviously not bothered about what was going on around him.

I passed by him, feeling that familiar shiver that I always felt when I was close to him. Whenever I was close to him that composure and wall I'd built around my mind and heart cracked. I passed by quickly and slipped back into my composed façade. I took my normal seat and blew out a breath of air. I stared intently at the board then back to the clock to first see if I could will the time to go faster so I could get out of here; second seeing if I stared hard enough I could actually learn something this lesson and not sit here doing bugger all whilst resisting the urge to bang my head on the table. Everything about this lesson is boring, even the classroom – it's just an off grey colour spread on the walls around me with maths is cool and maths is fun posters adorning every inch of wall. Where they get these things I really don't know. Who would ever actually say that maths is fun? Eventually I rested my head on my arms. Apparently I wasn't going to learn anything this lesson and I most certainly couldn't speed up time so I settled for taking a nap - the teacher's voice was kind of soothing anyway. I was brought back to reality when a piece of paper hit the back of my head.

I turned around and scowled at the culprit. When I saw who it was I just raised an eye brow as if to say "Really? What are you playing at?" There sat Jacob with a sheepish look on his face, miming something, what is this charades? Is it a book? A movie? I sighed and watched him as he mimed opening something, then his eyes scanned his hands as if reading something... oh, he wants me to read the paper

Swivelling in my seat, I inconspicuously picked up the note off the floor and opened it under my work sheet, which was blank due to my boredom:

_Speak to you after class?_

_Sure. What's up?_

Iwrote back, and when the teacher turned his head again I chucked it across the classroom, hitting a surprised Jacob on the head, where it landed safely in his lap. His head shot up, he glared at me and picked the note up, read it and wasted no time in chucking it back. This time I caught it and stuck my tongue out. Yep, I'm mature.

_I just want to ask you something. Meet me outside?_

_Sure. Now stop distracting me from my learning! _I chucked it back to him, he smiled and choked back a laugh.

_Well, Miss Swan. I never knew you loved Maths so much. _

_You learn something new every day! And apparently, Maths is cool! _

He let out a full blown laugh at that when I passed it back; it went like that until the end of the lesson. When the bell rang I packed up my stuff and Jacob fell into step beside me as we left the classroom.

"So what did you want to ask me" I looked up at him, his hand was rubbing the back of his neck. He was nervous?

Um, well, I was just wondering whether..." he stopped for a second, almost having some kind of internal battle, before continuing, sounding more confident "Whether you would like to go out with me sometime?" My eyebrows shot up. I stopped and looked at him. He stopped just beside me, looking more nervous the longer I took to formulate a response.

Edward was a jerk, Edward didn't love me and Edward gave me this aching feeling in my chest so why should I dwell on him any longer? Jacob was sweet, gorgeous everything I wanted in a boyfriend and he made my heart feel good again. It hadn't been long, but I needed to get out of the house when I wasn't at school. I was shut up at home mostly. When I was at school with my friends they helped to dull the pain, but when I got home, alone with my thoughts, it just ended up taking over my mood, making me feel unwanted, crap, shit any other adjective you can think of. So I looked up at him and smiled "Sure"

He grinned and we both sorted out the details as we rushed to class, the bell going off as soon as I walked into my classroom. I smiled down at the table as I took my seat, doing a mini happy dance in my head.

I pulled my black jacket on and examined my appearance in the mirror, my hair in smooth curls skimming my waist over the deep purple top that hung loosely on my curves. I brushed my hands over my black jeans, pulled on my purple heels and grabbed my bag. Part of me wondered whether I was doing the right thing going out with Jacob tonight, I mean, he might become the rebound. It's only been two weeks since, well, everything.

The other part of me was saying go for it - you know you want to ... I know what I feel for Jacob is more than just the things I would feel if I was going on the rebound, but there was still something in my head that wasn't clicking, something that was missing, something that wasn't right. The doorbell rang, giving me no more time to ponder this dilemma.

I pulled the door open and grinned at a nervous looking Jacob, who grinned as he met my eyes "Hey" I greeted.

"Hi. Shall we?" he motioned with his arm outside, towards his car.

"Sure. So where are we going? Or is it a secret?" I teased as I shut the door behind me and we walked to his car. He looked over at me and chuckled.

"Nope, no secret. I thought we could go watch a movie and grab a bite to eat?" he sounded nervous as he rattled off his suggestions for tonight. If I was honest, it sounded perfect - it was all I wanted right now, simple.

"Yes, yeah that sounds absolutely perfect" I smiled as his face lit up at my enthusiasm. He opened my door to let me in the passenger seat, then ran around to the driver's side door, and climbed in beside me. As we drove we chatted about anything and everything, no real silences which was good, meaning no awkward moments but I still couldn't shake the feeling in my gut that something wasn't right.

We arrived at the restaurant Da Vinci's. I knew it was expensive and tried to convince him to take me somewhere else he just laughed and told me not to be ridiculous. Inside the waitress showed us to a table for two with a single candle flickering at the centre - a tad cheesy but the idea was sweet. We ordered drinks and Jacob slid his hand over to mine holding it in his across the table. I looked down and blushed as he studied my face. I was starting to relax and enjoy the peacefulness when I looked towards the bar and the smile dropped right of my face. It was _him_.

I gasped, my eyes widening. I shot up from my seat, grabbing it to stop it falling back into the person sitting behind me, pushing it haphazardly back under the table and dashing away, leaving Jacob who was still left sitting bewildered and probably wondering what the hell was wrong with me. To be fair I would be thinking the same thing if I watched my date crawl across the floor in a posh restaurant.

I grabbed a menu from a nearby table, hoping to shield my face from view. I was still crawling across the floor, causing the woman I grabbed the menu from drop her drink in her lap, making her stand up and screech. Her face was so scrunched up, it looked like she had a stick up her ass. I just crawled away as fast as I could, narrowly missing a pillar. I peeked around the pillar making sure he couldn't see me before dashing into the ladies room, knocking over a waiter in the process, hearing more noises of anger and annoyance from behind me, not bothering to look back.

I went through the door to the ladies room, slumping against the sink trying to process what had happened when I heard a voice at the door.

"Bella?" Jacob called.

"He's out there! Oh my god he's here - why is he here? Is he intentionally trying to make my life hell? I can't even have a date without him ruining it!" I groaned, throwing my arms and head back, consequently hitting my head on the mirror.

"Oww"

"Bella, are you okay?" He asked, concern evidence in his voice.

"Yeah, but I could use a drink" I murmured, only now noticing the dryness of my throat. I heard him sigh through the door then answer me.

"Sure, I'll just go get a waiter" he said

"Really?" I asked, not actually realising he was being sarcastic and didn't mean it.

"Sure. I'll bring the dessert tray for you to look at whilst I'm at it" He drawled, this time I got it; I huffed and crossed my arms as I lent on the door.

"Hey, no need for that" I protested. He sighed.

"What am I going to do with you?"He chuckled "Who's out there anyway?" He asked through the door.

"Edward" I growled. I heard him mutter something unintelligible. "Why did he have to turn up here of all places?"

"Do you want to get out of here?" He sighed, sounding disappointed. Whether it was because we had to leave or the fact that Edward turned up I couldn't tell. I just pushed the door open slowly and nodded as he looked over at me.

"Please." We left the restaurant quickly, leaving a flustered waitress behind us as we rushed out the door. As we jetted out of the restaurant my eyes met with Edwards. He showed no emotion in his eyes as me and Jacob ran out of the restaurant. Everything seemed to slow down around me and I could only focus on his eyes, those green mesmerising depths. I looked away and everything around me sped up and before I knew it, me and Jacob were out the restaurant door.

We headed off to the movies after the disaster at the restaurant. We watched 'Nightmare On Elm Street 2, eh, he looked more like a demented scarecrow than a burn victim but, sequels are never as good as the original. Yep, the perfect way to cheer myself up - watch a horror movie where a 'demented scarecrow' comes into kids dreams and scares the crap out of them. It really wasn't all that scary but it was good for a few laughs. We arrived at my house from the movies in fits of laughter.

We walked to my door still laughing. Jacob grinned, his eyes glowing as they looked down at me. As our laughter subsided it became quiet, our eyes locked and he started to lean towards me. His mouth was inches away from mine and I could feel his warm breath against my face. I leaned up another inch or so and he met me half way, our lips just touching.

His lips pressed into mine with a fiery warmth, rather than the cool passion of Edward's kiss. They were polar opposites, yet I felt strongly for both, making my mind spin with confusion. Our mouths slid open, tongues mingling together; his arms clutched my waist and my hands slid round his neck into the dark mess of hair on his head. I clutched his head, pulling his lips roughly onto mine as he did the same.

The niggling feeling at the back of my mind had dimmed when our lips touched but it was still there, taunting me, teasing me. His lips moved with mine in perfect sync, almost choreographed. We pulled apart, breathing deeply, chests rising and falling, foreheads resting against each other. He grinned at me brightly, I gave him a small coy smile in return and bit my lip.

"I hope we can try this again. Maybe without all the drama?" He laughed and he rubbed the back of his neck, looking at me.

"I'd like that." He leaned down again and captured my lips one last time, before wishing me goodnight and walking to his car. Before he got in, he looked back at me and smiled looking at me with such an affectionate expression it almost hurt. I smiled back, hoping to give him what he was giving me. He got into his car and I watched as he drove off, feeling a sinking feeling in my stomach whenever I was left alone.

I stood on the porch and took in the sunset, watching as the sun relinquished its place in the sky, the orangey light slowly dying, being replaced by the moons soft glow, brightening the ever growing darkness of the night.


	23. Paris is slain

BPOV

The next few days passed in a blur, one day melting in to the next the show getting closer and closer, until it was only two more days to go till curtain call, today was the day of the first dress rehearsal. Things between me and Edward hadn't really changed allot but funnily enough although we weren't on speaking terms, we had an unspoken agreement between us; we played our parts and were civil if we needed to speak, we did, if we didn't, we wouldn't.

Every now and then we would pass in the halls and I would see something in his eyes that I yearned for that made me want to run across the halls and jump in his arms and never let go, but I couldn't. Something, something was holding me back. Sometimes even are arms would brush against the others and I would feel what I felt in his house those weeks ago when we kissed. As far as the stage kisses where going we were told we didn't have to do those until opening night. I don't know what I thought about that.

Me and Jacob had become a lot closer since our date, I suppose, you could almost call us a couple, I suppose if someone called us that we wouldn't deny it, we just hadn't discussed it yet. Although we have discussed other things he seemed a little off this morning so I asked him what was wrong, I think the answer shocked me more than it should.

_Jacob had his face scrunched up as if concentrating really hard, i reached and touched his hand breaking his concentration making him whip his head to look at me._

"_You okay?" I asked searching his face; he stopped and looked at me i stopped with him a couple of steps in front of him. "Who died?" I asked. He just looked at me and shook his head grinning at me, chuckling then stopped himself and looked at me intently. His face a conflict of emotions, happiness, anger, and something else I couldn't decipher._

"_No, no one died I just need to say something but I haven't any idea how to say it or where to start" he frowned, I quirked any eyebrow, he had my attention now. He looked down at me and smiled he leaned down and touch his lips to mine are lips moving together perfectly warmth and light spreading through my body. I lifted my hands up to tangle them in his hair his arms went round my waist and clutched me to him; it felt desperate it made me want to cling onto him for as long as I could._

_He smiled into the kiss and pulled back slowly resting his forehead on mine and said to me;_

"_I love you, Bella. Always remember that" _

_I was speechless I couldn't form a sentence in my head let alone say it back to him, he was looking at me, not expectantly, but reassuring me as if he knew what was running through my mind, as if he knew something I didn't . "It's okay." He murmured. "It's alright" his bent and kissed my cheek, then looked up over my shoulder and narrowed his eyes "You go ahead to rehearsal I'll be back"_

_I frowned my eyebrows puckering; I turned and saw Edward standing in the middle of the corridor staring at Jacob with a hard gaze. For a fraction of second his gazes turned to me and soften eve r so slightly. I wondered how long he had been there and whether he had heard what Jake had said to me, I also wondered why i cared. "Jake, don't." I tugged on his shirt to come with me he didn't._

"_Go. I'll be fine" he smiled" I can take him" he joked, reluctantly I pulled away and walked into the hall, all the gazes in the room turning on me as I entered, leaving the two guys stood in the hall walking toward the other._

When the two came in you could see the tension between them, but I couldn't tell anything that might have happened. Looking at their faces both hard and emotionless, gave away nothing, except confusion flashing across Edwards eyes so quickly it was gone before I could decipher anything more.

"Stay not, be gone. Live, and hereafter say a madman's mercy bid thee ran away!" Edward shouted as he and Jacob sparred with the fencing swords the thin metal clanging as they fought, with a bit more ferocity than they needed to. They danced around the stage, panting with the effort they were using to fight the other.

"I do defy thy conjuration and apprehend thee for a felon here." Jacob shouted back at him with as much vigour. I could have sworn I heard Edward growl at the words between pants do to the effort he was putting into this scene.

"Wilt thou provoke me? Then have at thee, boy!" Edward growled and the two resumed fighting with as much power as they had started. The metal clanged together quickly as the two fought for dominance over the other neither one backing down slowly Edward was backed towards the edge of the stage my heart sped if he got too much closer he was going to fall. Just as he reached the end of the stage the two twisted so they were stood sparring both at the front of the stage.

The anger on Jacobs face was evident though I couldn't fathom why, I wasn't stupid I knew the anger wasn't from the acting but from something entirely different but I would bet it had something to do with Edward and maybe what they were talking about in the hall I didn't know but what was bothering me the most was their close proximity to the edge of the stage.

EPOV

A satisfying shiver ran through me as the two fencing swords clashed together, I liked the feeling it gave me. I could finally fight black and I knew what the outcome was going to be, I would kill him, metaphorically anyway. The fencing swords moved fast through the air making a swishing sound every time they cut through the air.

I narrowed my eyes at Jacob and growled as we twisted so both of us stood on the edge of the stage neither of us willing to back down and give the other dominance. My mind still whirled from the conversation I had with Jacob.

_I ran my fingers through my hair reluctantly making my way to rehearsal, I couldn't stand having to watch Bella and Jacob make kissy face's at each other the whole way through okay maybe they didn't do it that much, but, even seeing her smile at him sickened me. I just wished she would smile at me like that again and not give me those blank looks. Sometimes I think I see her look at me the way I look at her I pass her in the hall or when were practicing a scene, I'm probably just imagining things._

_I turned the corner and saw Jacob and Bella standing near the auditorium talking about something, Jacob frowned, Bella was smiling and quirked an eyebrow, Jacob looked down at her and leaned down and kissed her. Her arms were round his neck and his arms around her waist holding her tightly, I gritted my teeth resisting the urge to rip them apart and punch him. Hard. He pulled back from Bella and slowly rested his forehead on hers and told her;_

"_I love you Bella always remember that" _

_I froze, the words echoed down the hall and hit me like a tonne of bricks, he was serious about her, was she serious about him? Would she say it back? She stood there her mouth slightly open; her brows slightly rose not seeming to say anything back. This made me, being selfish want to do a happy dance in the middle of the corridor. Jacob smiled and murmured something in her ear, kissing her cheek not seeming to mind he just laid his feelings out for all to see._

_Just as he said this he lifted his head and noticed me just stood there my face hardened, he told her to go ahead to the rehearsals and he'd be back. She frowned still not noticing me stood there behind them she turned and saw me I turned quickly and met her gaze my face softening when I looked at her without meaning to. "Jake, don't." she tugged on his shirt to go with her he didn't._

_He looked back at her "Go. I'll be fine" he smiled" I can take him" he joked; yeah sure... she pulled away and walked into the hall. We stood for a moment and walk slowly hesitantly towards each other._

"_Cullen." He nodded his voice devoid of all emotion._

"_Black" my voice held no evidence of the fury I was feeling towards him right now and he knew very well I had been stood there and heard, enough of the conversation he had just had with Bella. I knew for a fact he knew how i felt and the way that made me feel, but what I didn't know was what his motives where for this. To rub my face in that he had Bella and I didn't? That seemed most likely, but, I wasn't sure. He didn't seem smug or any other emotion that would suggest that._

"_I'm assuming you heard all that?" I squeezed my fists at my sides._

"_Yes." I spat, I didn't have any idea where he was going with this, but i never would have guessed what his motives where even if I had tried. I think it was more what he said next that shocked me the most, more than anything else. _

"_Bella still loves you, you know." He told me his voice showing vague annoyance at this, i didn't know how to respond, so I didn't I just stood there like an idiot not having any idea of what i wanted to say to that, apparently I didn't need any he carried on for me. "I can see it in her eyes every time we pass you or she does a scene with you during rehearsal, do you know how much it kills me to know that? Especially when she's too blind to see it! God! I think everyone except the two of you can see it."_

"_I'm going to talk to her after rehearsal; I can't go on knowing she's unhappy! I love her Edward I know she loves me too..." he looked away his eyes the only indication of the emotions running through his head at that moment. His eyes finally flickered back to mine;"Just not enough" he whispered. _

"_I'm going to ask her what she wants if she wants you then so be it, but I need to know, I need to know" he repeated a little lower whether to himself for to me I wasn't sure. "I'm sure as hell going to fight for her" he said fixing his gaze on mine determined. If he thought the fight would be easy it wouldn't I wasn't going to let her get away again. This changed my plans but I could still use them to my advantage as one last chance to show her what she means to me, more than I knew even then . I couldn't formulate an answer so he silently walked into the auditorium his composed expression never breaking, I followed shortly after. _

The two of us were in our own bubble fighting each other on the stage, not noticing the people around us looking at us watching we edged closer and closer to the very edge of the stage and then, suddenly, it was too late. we both fell, out of our bubble and off the stage tumbling closer to the ground with every second that passed, the thing that passed through my mind was Bella where was she? Was she okay?

Suddenly, i heard an earth shattering scream of someone calling my name come from nearby, before I hit the ground, then I heard a sickening snap.

BPOV 

My heart pounded hard against my chest not letting up as I watch Edward and Jacob fight on the stage with those swords and edge back towards the very end of the stage, then it happened. One miss step sent them both falling over the edge towards the ground. Before my body could register what was happening I screamed out the one name that shocked everyone even me. Everyone stopped dead, looks of horror on their faces as there watched what was unfolding in front of them.

"EDWARD!" My heart thudded, shattering as I watch him hit the ground. Oh, god please, no. I screamed as I heard a loud stomach turning snap. I ran over to them tears streaming my face, not him, please not him, _not him_! I knew at that moment I had made my choice.

Everyone's eyes were on me Edward and Jacob and I ran to their side. A knelt at his side breathing a silent sigh of relief when I saw his feet moving and his chest rising and falling, he groaned and started to sit up . As quickly as it was there it was gone a feeling of dread ran through me _Jacob_ I turned to him; "Oh God, JACOB!" I screamed.

He neck was twisted at an abnormal angle his body completely still, unmoving, unfeeling, gone. I through myself on his body sobs shaking my shoulders, my body not willing to moved from his, my screams echoing from the walls every time someone tried to pull me off him I couldn't be away from him. I couldn't leave him.

"Jacob, please speak to me! Please wake up! Please! Not You! " I broke into hysterics not willing to let go, I wished I could have loved him the way he had wanted me to, he had told me he loved me and I hadn't said anything back to him. Guilt racked my body, all the things he wanted to do, he would never have the chance to do. A hard, frowning, emotionless expression was now permanently painted across his face. My hands shook as clung onto him.

He would never smile again.

"WHY?" I screamed "Why?" he was too young, he didn't deserve to die, not now, he deserved a family, children, to find his soul mate.

He gave me so much strength; I owed him so much I could never give back. So much love I could never return. Everything moved so fast around me the teacher called an ambulance the whole class was being ushered out. "Jacob" I whispered "I'm sorry, I'll never forget, never, I'll never forget you, I'll never forget the love you gave me or the way you made me feel special when I was feeling down, I will always have a special place for you in my heart" I point to my chest my voice cracking laced with tears "right here"

I leant down and place a single kiss on his cheek. "Goodbye." The paramedics had arrived and wanted to take Jacob away. I couldn't let go, not yet, not now, I couldn't, I couldn't, I clung onto him not wanting to let go of him. Someone pulled me off, I kicked and screamed resisting it.

"Bella" a voice murmured "You need to let go"Finally, when I had no strength left, I did and sobbed into the person's chest shaking so hard both our bodies shook.

As I broke down for the second time I felt two warm safe arms wrap around me and hold me together in that place, as the paramedics took Jacob away from me, forever. I held on to the owner of the voice and cried, I cried and cried for so long I had no concept of time. Rosalie slowly rocked me as I sobbed into her chest.

"Shhhh" she murmured "It's going to be okay" the sobs coming from me where loud and uncontrollable, but it never deterred Rosie from holding onto me tighter as each new round of sobs overcame. "I know honey" her voice cracking, her pain was obvious too even though she was trying to hide it for my sake. We had all become close to him, it was hard not to. So we sat there in the empty auditorium together and cried letting all the pain take over, and just let it out.

"Why did he have to go Rosie." I whimpered she just shook her head her soft blond hair tickling the tip of my nose. "_Why_, Why?"

"I don't know, bells, I just don't know" I used all the strength I had left and pulled myself away from her and made up my mind.

"I need to see Edward" I whispered, she studied my face and simply nodded.

Rosalie's car pulled up at the hospital, the car ride had been silent I didn't trust my voice, Jacobs face kept running through my head, him laughing and smiling with me then it would change and become that cold, hard, emotionless mask that would be on his face, permanently . The two of us dashed up to the front reception.

"Edward Cullen" I breathed. She typed on her computer, when the smell of the hospital, sick and blood hit me like a tonne of bricks and I needed to get out of there and fast, she looked up.

"Ward 5, examining room 4" she indicate with her hand, and I took off running , taking a deep breath of air as I left the accident and emergency and turned the corner to the hall of examination rooms. One... two... three... four. I yanked the door about to see a shocked doctor holding Edwards's plastered wrist and a shaken looking Edward.

"Oh! I'm sorry ill just wait outside" I started to back out the room, when the doctor stopped my shaking his head.

"It's okay, I was just finishing up, well it looks like you were very lucky, your scans have come back fine, your wrist should only be in plaster for a few months, give or take..." he looked between us. "I'll just hand in your report and we will send you a letter when you need to come back to have your cast removed, okay?" Edward nodded "I'll give you two a minute."

For a while we both stayed still and watched each other, until I flung myself into his, lap and started to sob uncontrollably. I knew what I must have looked like my eyes red and puffy from crying my hair sticking up in every direction. I didn't care. When I finally stop I lifted my head from Edwards's chest, looked him deep in the eyes then, overcome with so much emotion, I kissed him, hard.

He kissed me back and I knew as bad as it may seem there had never been any question about which of them was for me, I now knew which man I couldn't live without . When I thought it was him, I died, I couldn't breathe couldn't think, Edward was it for me I could feel it with every fibre of my being. I loved Jacob but it wasn't the same way I loved Edward, even knowing this I didn't want Jake to die, even though he's gone, my love for Jacob will never die, it will live on in my heart ,always, forever.

"I love you Bella" Edward whispered, sadness lacing his voice.

"I love you too, I just wish that my Paris hadn't had to die for this to happen, for me to realise" I whispered a tightening in my stomach as I did. Edward frowned at me. I brought my hand up to his face and brushed his cheek "He was always my Paris and you've always been my Romeo I was just too blind to see it."

"I'm sorry Bella" he whispered "For everything, for this, it should have been me, after everything I've done..." I looked at him not being able to fathom him dying. I grabbed his face between my hands and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Don't say that! Don't you ever say that, when I thought you were... something had happened to you I couldn't breathe, I realised it was you I couldn't live without, I don't want to be mad at you anymore, I don't have the strength, not after that, not after thinking I'd lost you forever, life's too short and I'm just beginning to realize that" I touched my lips to his with as much passion as I could muster he winced as I pressed myself harder against him. I pulled back.

"Sorry, you okay?" I asked frowning; he gave me a sad smile. And nodded pushing himself up off the examining table with his good hand.

"Yeah, I'm just a bit sore"

"Are you allowed to leave and go home? Or..."

"Yeah I think so, I didn't bring a car..." he hesitated, not knowing what to say.

"Rosie can drop you home" I looked at him, he looked hesitant "Okay?" We walked to Rosalie's car in silence holding hands, keep each other together. I looked up at the endless dark sky when the moon stood high and proud, surrounded by the sparkling stars high above. I closed my eyes and let the gentle evening breeze brush over my face.

_Goodbye Jake, I love you._


	24. Dreams And Reality

Jacob black was proclaimed dead on the fifteenth of June, at ten o'clock, two thousand and twelve. When Jacob and Edward had fell off the stage Edward fell straight to the floor, but, Jake hit his head on the edge of the stage snapping his neck, killing him instantly, meaning he felt no Pain. This, according to the hospital, should have been comforting.

It wasn't.

I still kept playing that moment over and over in my head, wishing and hoping there was something I could have done then Jacob would be here right now. Each hour of school dragged on and on, my body was on automatic, just going through the motions of the day. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I walked down the hall to my last class, English, it would be our first class since the accident and saying I wasn't looking forward to it, would be an understatement. The show would have been tonight, but, know no one has any idea what is going on anymore.

As I slowly walked down the hall I overheard two girls, Lucy and parker, from my algebra class gossiping about the accident. It wasn't as if I hadn't had this all day, if people hadn't heard about it on the day they were guaranteed to find out the next, when an announcement was made all over school about English class and after school rehearsal being cancelled because of the whole incident. I wasn't in that day, I couldn't face it, I couldn't face any of it, Alice was the one who had told me about the announcement, and it made my stomach turn.

I hadn't slept in two days it just kept playing what happened over and over again whenever I closed them, my eyes had huge dark circles under them, I had my hood up around my face hiding myself away. I tried to block out what they were saying and carry on walking like I had each time I heard someone talking about it, however, each time it got harder and harder to ignore. I heard them say my name and for once I slowed down and eavesdropped knowing full well I might not like what I was hearing.

"Bella was such a _bitch_ to Jacob!" Lucy spat conspicuously, glancing at my back from behind the hair draped between me and her and parker. I froze. I kept my back to them and carried on listening unable to react. I had been hearing gossip all day, the usual, but never this I couldn't help but stop to listen.

"I know leading him on like that!" The parker tittered "everyone knew she was still in love with Cullen, I bet she didn't even like Jacob! She is such a desperate whore!" Her words hurt me more than they should have, I knew the truth of the situation and she didn't but I still couldn't shake the words from my head. You led him on. _You led him on_.

I didn't mean to, I didn't...

"I know no wonder Edward did what he did she was probably too clingy and desperate! It was so obvious she was using Jacob to get to Edward she deserved what Lauren did too her!" I could feel both their eyes on my back as it stiffened, my fists clenched at my sides and I gritted my teeth. I'm not friends with the two girls I barely even know them but I suppose girls can be bitches, whether you deserve it or not, in my case I didn't know whether I did or I didn't.

"I heard she all but pushed him off that stage that day" the words penetrated through my brain banging repeatedly like a hammer on the inside of my skull

No. I pushed down the tears that threatened to spill over my eyes. I blinked to clear my vision; in doing so I also cleared my head and went from, breaking down to furious. Before I could think I spun on them.

"Are you quite done?" I asked them my voice deadly calm; they turned to me, faces masks of shock, the colour draining from their faces. "I said are you quite done?"

"We didn't... I mean...I don't...we" she blathered defiantly giving me a blank look, my anger was building with every passing second, they couldn't even say the words to my face.

"What's wrong? Don't have the guts to share how you feel about me to my face!" I shouted, people where staring trying to seeing what was going on others walking past slowly to try and eavesdrop on the conversation.

"You really have no idea what went on between me and Jacob so you have no right to judge what went on nobody does!" I snarled all the locked up anger tumbling out of me clumsily, I knew somewhere in the back of my mind all this anger wasn't because of them, or rightfully aimed at them. It had been simmering just below the surface all day and now I exploded.

I was angry at everyone because of the rumours, for not understanding, I was angry at the hospital for not being able to do anything, for not being able to save him. I was angry at Jacob for leaving me, for never coming back, for taking a piece of my heart with him; but most of all I was angry at myself for hurting Jacob, it wasn't physically, I may not have meant it but I did I hurt him and I hate myself for it. "I loved Jacob! I love him! I loved him ..." I screamed so hard I startled everyone walking past , my shouts quietened to a whisper before I started to feel tears, making tracks down my face.

"And he loved me too..." I whispered, my voice rose to a normal level and I was talking to know one in particular "you know, the day he died he told me he loved me, and I couldn't say it back, he told me it was okay, it was alright, it wasn't" I shook my head still seeing the look on his face when he told me, the smile, I still felt his touch, the feel of his lips on mine, the warmth.

It hurt, so bad.

My heart ached, he knew I didn't love him enough he knew but he still told me, I hated the way I had treated him, I hadn't meant to hurt him I would never do that. "I wanted to hate Edward for what he had done to me! I didn't mean to love him, I didn't even want to, but I did, I do and I can't help it, I never could, when he died my heart broke and he took a pieced of me with him a piece that would always, belong to him, so next time you want to gossip ,consider that." By the end of my speech my eyes where blurred with tears, my heart open for everyone to see, I couldn't see their reactions and I didn't take the time to try.

I turned a fled down the corridor towards English, feeling broken and vulnerable when I got to the classroom I fell against the door frame making everybody turned to look at me. My face was fully visible to everyone there my tears on full display, I wiped my eyes, and blink back any more tears that threatened to spill. I pulled my hood back up and made my way to my seat by my friends and Edward, who were sat together on one side of the classroom. They all sent me questioning stares, I just shook my head and turned to the front, I felt Edward put his hand on mine under the table and give it a tentative squeeze.

The whole room was silent as the teacher walked into the classroom, her face sad, the opposite of the bright and bubbly woman she usually is.

"Class as you all know Jacob black is, is no longer with us, in light of this event I was going to cancel the show altogether as I know some people will be in no state to perform tonight and we no longer have a Paris" she took a breath, I couldn't help but feel her gaze on me when she said some people will be in no sate to perform. "However, as this performance is supposed to be worth fifty percent of your final grade, I decided to postpone the show for a couple of weeks and we shall perform a few select scenes making sure everyone has a chance to play their parts."

I also thought, for anyone who wants to, at the end of the show they can say a few words about Jacob as a good bye for the people who won't be attending the funeral in a few weeks time" she finished her speech and her eyes swept the classroom looking over everyone who mumbled a chorus of yes's and sure's.

"Ok, so before I dismiss you all I just want to confirm the scenes that you will all be performing ..." she started to rattle of a few scenes including when Romeo and Juliet meet, act 3 scene 5 and the infamous death scene condensed more like the movie version so it doesn't include Paris. She also rattled of a few others so everyone had at least two chances to perform on the stage.

She dismissed us and I pushed up out of my chair and beat everyone round me to the door so they wouldn't ask any questions. I felt every pair of eyes on my back as I ran from the classroom needing to get away all the eyes that had been on me since I had entered the room, or fell into it, I stumbled to my locker to get my things so I could just leave I thought I could handle coming in today, but, I really, really couldn't.

Turning to leave I saw, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, Emmet and Edward all walking my way, concern etching their faces as much as I wanted to go home I couldn't run away from everything, so I stayed stuck to the spot until they reached me.

"Bella what happened before class today?" Alice asked the question they had all been dying to ask me. I looked at them my entire hood falling away from my face showing my puffy eyes and red nose, I shook my head.

"Gossip" I said simply they all looked angry "I knew I wouldn't like what I was going to hear today, I shouldn't have listened, I knew there would be gossip I just didn't realise how bad it would be, I thought I was ready to come and face it, I'm not, I'm going to go home"

"Who was it and what did they say, Bella? Nobody makes my little sister upset and gets away with it," Jasper murmured into my ear as he pulled me to him in a big bear hug, I was surprised it was rare to see jasper like this, but he was my big brother and I loved him for it.

"It doesn't matter, there both probably still in shock from the display I put on" I shook my head and went to pull away but jasper kept hold of my wrist "Jasper, please, you can't always fight my battles for me, hey I maybe running away right now, but I'll be ok, don't worry about me" I sent him a look and he dropped my wrist.

"You're my little sister I'm always going to worry, but you're right, I'll see you at home?" I nodded and threw a smile at the rest of them. I was nearly at the front entrance when I heard someone call me from behind.

"Bella, wait!" I turned to see Edward running down the hall towards me, trying in vain not to knock anyone over, succeeding in scaring a small freshman or scurried out of his way. It wasn't until he reached my I realized he hadn't spoken the entire time I had been with the others, I looked at him but he simply wrapped his arms around me and held me to his chest, I sighed all the stress from my muscles uncoiling.

"I'm fine" I muttered knowing he knew I wasn't, but he didn't pry sensing I didn't want to talk about it.

"I know" he murmured, kissing the top of my head "At least let me give you a ride home, it's either that or you leave Rosalie and jasper stranded, I highly doubt either of them will be too happy if you do that." He had a point.

"Schools not even over yet, you can't just skip, not for me anyway." I sighed, not wanting him to get into trouble, it's enough for me to skip it's not as if I haven't been doing it a lot lately, it's a good thing Charlie never found or he would have flipped out , especially since it's been more than once. I mean I'm no angel, Charlie can look past it once, after everything that's happened, but, he's still the chief of police and a stickler for the rules.

"Please?" He asked "Just let me take you home, ill even come back to school if it makes you happy" Too tired to argue, knowing by the look on his face he wasn't going to give up anytime soon so I gave in.

"Ok, thank you." He placed pulling me to him one last time, took my hand, and then we made our way to his car in silence. The car ride was quiet, but not awkward; our hands intertwined between the two car seats, his thumb softly rubbing soothing circles into the back my hand. I sighed completely contented at that moment in time, my eyes felt heavy almost giving in to the exhaustion from the day.

"Bella, bells, were at your house, you need to wake up" my eyes fluttered, red light showing under my lids, I pushed my eyes open only just realising I had fallen asleep.

"Mmm" I mumbled stretching out eyes adjusting to the light, I felt two arms slide under me and lift me from the car; I frown, and wiggled in Edwards arms. "Don't" I murmured "Put me down I'm too heavy"

"Heavy" he snorted. "Right" I could feel his steady breathing and the gently movement of his feet under me and beat of his heart through his blue shirt. We walked up the path up to the house, then he stopped, I lifted my head. "Bella I need your keys"

"What?" I asked my brain still foggy, then it clicked and I put my hand in my pocket and fished out the keys. "Oh, right, yeah, here you go" he took them from me, and I heard the lock click as he pulled me over a threshold bridal style, giving me visions of Edward in a tux carrying me in a white dress, causing me to giggle at the absurdity.

"What?" he asked throwing me a funny look as he lowered me to sit on the couch. "What's so funny?" I shook my head as he sat down next to me.

"Nothing, nothing." he looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Nothing!" like I was going to tell him what I was thinking, I'd frighten the poor sod. Also, there was no way I wanted to get married to Edward or anyone for that matter, I know if I told him he would get the wrong impression, well he'd either laugh it off, run for the hills, or get down on one knee and propose. In that case I'd be the frightened poor sod and I'd be running for the hills. The image of Edward down on one knee with a huge rock in a velvet case made me laugh even more.

Although, it was a curious thought.

"What are you thinking about?" he questioned looking perplexed and amused at the same time, I shook my head again not willing to give anything away.

"Nothing, honestly." He just threw me a look that said he didn't believe me his lips twitched up into a mischievous smile, he started to lean down towards me slowly as he pulled me onto his lap.

"Edward?" I asked my voice faltering when he pressed his lips to my neck his hot breath fanning my face.

"You sure you're not thinking of something?" he breathed his voice smooth against my neck his lips lightly brushing my skin every time his lips moved around each word. "Something you want to tell me?"

"No." I breathed, biting back a moan, not wanting him to know the effect he was having on me, his lips did circuits on my neck and around the back of my ear , I shivered involuntarily when his teeth grazed my skin. "I have nothing to tell" his lips found mine and he kissed me his lips soft against mine, my head spun, then I was snapped back into my thoughts.

"Edward" I breathed between kisses "You have to go" he just groaned as his lips grazed mine again and again. "Edward..." I breathed temporarily losing my train of thought. "Edward you have to go"

"No" he mumbled moving his mouth from mine down to my neck.

"Yes." I laughed. "Someone needs to give jasper or rose the car keys, otherwise you dropping me home and leaving the car at school will be completely pointless" he lifted and cocked his head at that and raised an eyebrow.

"Pointless? I'd hardly say this was pointless." He grinned and dipped his head back down nipping the skin of my neck, I laughed.

"Edward... my brother and sister are going to be stranded if you don't go!" his lips found mine again and my will power was waning. Hey! It's not my fault I'm only human!

"Let them walk," he mumbled as he buried his head in the crook of my neck peppering it with kisses, I sighed in contentment, before snapping back to my point.

"As much as I would love to stay right where we are for the rest of the day you need to go plus I'm tired and if my dad found you within a foot of my bed he would most possibly shoot you." I took one look at his scared face and burst out laughing, he just scowled playfully and poke me in the ribs, I squeaked.

"Funny...Fine, I know when I'm not wanted!" he gave a dramatic sigh and lifted me off his lap, he stood up pouting I laughed, stood up and kissed his pouting lips, his hands went to my hips as he pulled me in for one last chaste kiss. It was sweet and told me all I needed to know. I threw him the keys when he was at the door and he told me he would see me later.

As soon as he was gone my thoughts managed to catch up with me, and the words Lucy and parker had said spun round my head and hammered at the inside of my skull making it so hard to forget now I had time to dwell on it.

_"Bella was such a __bitch__ to Jacob!"_

"_She is such a desperate whore!"_

"_Leading him on like that"_

"_She all but pushed him off the stage"_

"_Pushed him off the stage!"..._

I went upstairs and collapsed on my bed trying to push away those thoughts, but, the more I thought about it the more doubt shot threw me. My head pounded, making what little light there was in my room make my eyes ache, I quickly closed my curtains and took two Tylenol, I snuggled under my sheets and squeezed my eyes shut willing myself to sleep.

Eventually the pounding from the back of head and behind my eyes began to dim until I could feel nothing at all and was pulled into a deep slumber.

_I walked down a pitch black corridor my feet carrying me without any consent from the rest of my body. I felt like I had been walking for hours, my eyes never adjusting to the darkness, when two large doors swung open revealing a blinding light, making me lift my hand to block some of it out. When the light finally dimmed it revealed the auditorium at school, Jacob was stood on the stage and everybody else was in the same positions they were in the day of the incident._

_Except, one thing was different._

_They were all turned to face me with malicious sneers on their faces; the door behind me slammed shut and disappeared. My feet started back up again and began to walk forward slowly, everyone's gaze still on me._

"_Bitch!" I jumped, startled, looking to my left and saw Laurens face twisted with hate, regardless of this my feet carried on going, carrying me forward against my will._

"_Desperate whore!" I turned again this time it was Rosalie who had said the words, a mask of disgust covering her face, never before had I seen such an expression on my sisters face. Her words slicing through me like a knife. My feet carried me forward before I could dwell anymore on what she had said, before I could move much further someone else joined in the taunting._

"_Slut!" this time it was Alice I tried to look away but like my feet my whole body was on auto pilot and I was force to look at the disdain on Alice features, pain shooting through my heart. The insults just kept rolling by as I walked further forward, seeing faces of so many of the people I loved contorted with anger, disgust, hatred, malice and it was all directed at me._

"_Liar!"_

"_You lead him on!"_

"_You're nothing!"_

_Insults kept coming and coming till I thought I would burst but my body would let me cry, wouldn't let me run away, wouldn't let me scream. Then, abruptly it stop the whole room fell silent and I had reached the stage, out of the darkness behind the curtains emerged a figure ,similar to the others in that its face was a mask of pure hate, but, this figure wasn't sneering or frowning it was grinning. The edges of its lips where turned up into a skin crawling smirk. The figure took another step right out into the light to reveal itself._

_It was me._

_I watched her as she walked closer to the stage never once breaking eye contact with me, she walked up behind Jacob and brought her hands up and placed the on the centre of his back._

"_you all but pushed him off the stage" she said her voice eerie, she laughed, sending shivers down my spine but before I could react she pushed Jacob roughly off the stage and he plummeted down. The binds that had been holding my body before were realised and I screamed. I screamed so hard, my throat hurt I rushed forwards to try and catch him but before I could get there he disappeared into a shroud of darkness._

_I watch as the rest of the room and the people in it begin to fall in to the darkness._

"_Bella" a voice fluttered across my consciousness._

"_Bella!" it was becoming urgent, but I was surrounded by the darkness it felt like I was suffocating. I couldn't breathe. It was closing in, getting closer. So close._

"_BELLA!"_

"Bella, Bella wake up" I felt my body being shook and the light making me see red behind my eyelids, my eyes shot open, and I gasped for air, clawing at the sheets to pull them off me to it the cool air hit my sweat covered body. I struggled as I felt to arms fold round me and hold me close, my struggling subsided into shaking and sobbing.

"Shhhh, Bella it was just a dream, your okay, I promise" Edward. He rubbed soothing circles into my back as sobbed into his chest unable to control my shaking body. "Your okay now, I've got you, nothing going to harm you not while I'm here" he whispered to me softly, it was then I slowly realised I didn't know why he was here.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" I murmured.

"Gym was my last class, so I ditched and came to see if you were okay" I lifted my head and took in the concerned expression on his face. "I was so worried, I heard you screaming, I ran up here to see you shaking and thrashing around in bed, shouting and screaming, then all of a sudden you stopped and you don't seem to be breathing, I thought I'd lost you. I was so scared Bella, what were you dreaming about?" I could see the worry written all over his face and the frown on his face, so I told him, I told him everything that had happened today, and then what I had dreamed about. By the end of it, he was fuming.

"So that's what they said." I nodded. "God they're so lucky they're girls, plus," he scoffed. "What they said was utter bullshit, you know Jacob and I spoke on the day he - he died." I nodded again not quite sure where he was going with this.

"He told me he loved you and that you loved him too, as much as I hate to say it he was right, if he'd thought you'd led him on he wouldn't have said that would he? He wouldn't have told me he was going to fight for you, because he knew you loved me and I you, if he really thought any of those things the girls said, he wouldn't have told me what he did." I honestly didn't know what to say I had no clue, but, one thing for me stood out, he knew I loved him, and to me, that meant everything.


	25. Finale

"Welcome one and all to are production of Romeo and Juliet by the great William Shakespeare! due to an incident that happened two weeks ago we modified the play so we will only be performing a certain selection of scenes." The whole cast stood behind the curtains whispering about what there lines where that they had forgot their cues and general anxiousness. "Sit back, relax, and wear your heart on your sleeve, ladies and gentlemen Romeo and Juliet." I could feel the tension rolling off everybody as Miss Murphy walk off the stage and Ben walked on and began the prologue.

"_Two houses both alike in dignity in fair Verona where we lay our scene ..." _the lights were lowered so a single spot shone on Ben as he recited that first part of narrative. I have to say I have always loved the prologue at the start it was always one of my favourite parts of the play. "_The which if you with patient ears attend, what here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend_"

With that, Emmett all the others in act 1 scene 1 walked on to the stage into position and began their scene. By the look of things Emmet was enjoying being able to swing the sword around since he was constantly swinging it round narrowly missing people's heads at one point. Edward and jasper joined him shortly on the stage; I must admit they all look great in period costume.

"_I'll pay that doctrine or else die in debt._" Jasper said his final line and everybody left the stage as the curtains pulled for a close, and that, would be my cue. My heart raced and my palms started to heat and become sticky, shit, what a great moment for stage fright to kick in. I slowly walked on the stage squinting due to the harsh glare of the stage lights. I took a breath and we started our lines.

Once act 1 scene 2 was over I stayed on the stage as the curtains pulled closed, whilst most of the others filed off to changed costumes for the Capulet ball scene. I let my shoulders relax letting the tension roll of me, I spotted Edward walk onto the stage with Emmet, jasper and the other two guys that are playing Gregory and Sampson. The curtains pulled open and I danced awkwardly, trying not to trip over my dress, or feet, whist the others said there lines getting ready for my cue.

I looked up my eyes met Edwards and the stage fell away around us, we were stood in a ball room filled with people oblivious to us and us to them.

"If _I profane with my unworthiest hand thy holy shrine the gentle sin is this, my lips two blushing pilgrims ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss._" I could feel Edwards breath on the back of my neck as he pulled us both away and out of the crowd and off to the side.

"_Good pilgrim you do wrong with your hands too much which mannerly devotion shows in this. For saints have hands that pilgrims hands do touch, palm to palm is holy palmers kiss." _I breathed, the temperature rising around the two of us I turned around to face him, a small smile on his face as he started to speak again.

"_Have not saint's lips and holy palmers too_?" His eyes trained on my lips, his lips twitching up on one side, his hand grasping mine.

"_Aye pilgrim lips they must use in prayer_." In turn my eyes rested on his lips entranced by their movements.

"_O'then dear saint let lips do what hands do! They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair._" his hand went to rest on my waist, whilst his other kept brushing my finger tips.

"_Saints do not move, through grant for prayers sake._"

"_Then move not while my prayers effect I take._" His head tilted down to mine, my eyes drifted close, my head tilting up, his hand that was once on mine slid up to his other on my waist, our lips meeting in a sweet kiss, we both pulled away slowly his warm breath fanning my face. "_Thus from my lips, by thine my sin is purged._" he grinned down at me his hands still on my waist keeping us close, his thumbs rubbing soft, warm circles into my sides.

"_Then have my lips the sin that they have took._" Please...

"_Sin from my lips_?" he smiled; I could see the laughter in his eyes "_O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again." _For the second time he leant down and placed his lips on mineand they parted with mine, our tongues just brushing but never really touching, both of us knowing if we dared deepen the kiss we wouldn't b able to stop and we needed to keep this short and sweet. I felt the heat rising to my cheeks among other places as we pulled away from the kiss and Edwards eyes where looking directly into mine, smouldering.

"_You kiss by th'book." _He most certainly does...

As the play drew to a close I couldn't help but think, it's over, all of it is over, I know the play wasn't the reason for everything that has happened the past couple of months, but, it was the start of it all, and as it ends it feels like the drama is ending with it. As Angela says her parting lines I feel as if a weight has been lifted, from my shoulders, my head and my heart.

"_A glooming peace this morning with it brings._

_The sun for sorrow will not show his head._

_Go hence to have more talk of these sad things._

_Some shall be pardoned some shall be punished._

_For never was there a story of more woe _

_Than this of Juliet and her Romeo"_


	26. Final AN

A/N Hey so first I want to thank everyone who stuck with the story, everyone who has reviewed, read, favourited and alerted this story, and second I want to apologise for the crappy ending.

It wasn't what I wanted, but I just have no inspiration for this story and I honestly was starting to dislike writing it I have beta'd the old chapters, a few I only skimmed and some I added a little too. I am really sorry that the ending isn't better and that there's so many holes and the grammar isn't great on the last chapters at least I haven't left it unfinished which is the positive thing I suppose.

Last thing is this is no longer my primary Fanfic account I have made a new one to publish one shots from various other fandoms, i highly doubt i'll ever write anything twilight again, but you never know. this account is hooked up to one of my primary emails which i check regular so i will still get all PMs and reviews and such, if you are interested in having my new account PM me on this one and i'll give you my username :)

Once again thank you so much

Monstergirl

:)

x


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